Elon Musk’s X sues Twitch for allegedly illegally conspiring to boycott ads

Elon Musk’s X has added Twitch to its ongoing lawsuit against the Global Alliance of Responsible Media for allegedly withholding ads on the platform.

Back in August 2024, Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against members of the Global Alliance of Responsible Media with claims that they worked together to boycott the platform.

The lawsuit alleges that companies within the alliance illegally banded together to “withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue” from the platform formerly known as Twitter, which Elon Musk purchased back in October 2022.

On Monday, November 18, Musk’s X added Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch to the list of defendants in the ongoing lawsuit.

As reported by Business Insider, the company formerly known as Twitter claims Twitch has illegally withheld ads from the platform and says they have not purchased ads on the platform in the US. He claims they have only spent a “small amount” in other countries since November 2022.

Neither company has issued a public statement about the claims and likely won’t due to the fact it’s an ongoing lawsuit.

This comes as the Amazon-owned platform is facing claims of antisemitism and Islamophobia on the platform. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy issued a statement regarding the claims on November 1, making it clear the platform “stands firmly against hate and harassment of any form.”

Following his blog post, Twitch banned users from using the word ‘zionist’ as a way to harass others but clarified there are still instances where saying it wouldn’t result in a punishment.

“Starting today, using the term ‘Zionist’ to attack or demean another individual or group of people on the basis of their background or religious belief is against our rules,” they said. “Using the term to refer to the political movement, whether in a supportive or critical way, does not violate our Hateful Conduct policy.”

Since then, it’s been reported that “significant” Twitch advertisers have backed away from the platform amid rumors of an ‘adpocalypse’ from some of the sites top streamers.