The law he’s citing is a good law, but it also very clearly doesn’t apply here.
Coordinating an effort to protect advertisers from association with extremist content, like what Garm was doing, could very easily be seen as a boycott against Twitter, since it is a well established fact that Twitter doesn’t do much to protect advertisers from reputational damage related to extremist content.
The question is whether or not the boycott was illegal. If the companies who rely on Garm’s advice (World Federation of Advertisers and member companies CVS, Orsted, Unilever, and Mars, who are in named in the lawsuit) collectively benefit in way that gives them a competitive advantage over Twitter or anyone not a member of Garm, the sure, that could be an issue, but that’s not really the case.
CVS, Orsted, Unilever, and Mars largely don’t compete with each other in the same markets. Some even work in symbiosis (CVS sells what Unilever and Mars make / all three might use Orsted energy products). There’s no reason to believe that anyone not subscribing to Garm’s guidance is going to experience a disadvantage that can’t simply be explained by Garm giving good advice.
Advising that advertisers avoid sites that allow hate speech and extremism is definitely a form of organized boycotting against any named website, but it isn’t intended to harm those sites, it is only meant to protect advertisers from toxic association with hate and extremism.
I sincerely hope he loses this lawsuit. Putting Garm out of business is shitty, but setting the precedent that you’re not allowed to respond to hate speech and extremism is dangerous.
The law he’s citing is a good law, but it also very clearly doesn’t apply here.
Coordinating an effort to protect advertisers from association with extremist content, like what Garm was doing, could very easily be seen as a boycott against Twitter, since it is a well established fact that Twitter doesn’t do much to protect advertisers from reputational damage related to extremist content.
The question is whether or not the boycott was illegal. If the companies who rely on Garm’s advice (World Federation of Advertisers and member companies CVS, Orsted, Unilever, and Mars, who are in named in the lawsuit) collectively benefit in way that gives them a competitive advantage over Twitter or anyone not a member of Garm, the sure, that could be an issue, but that’s not really the case.
CVS, Orsted, Unilever, and Mars largely don’t compete with each other in the same markets. Some even work in symbiosis (CVS sells what Unilever and Mars make / all three might use Orsted energy products). There’s no reason to believe that anyone not subscribing to Garm’s guidance is going to experience a disadvantage that can’t simply be explained by Garm giving good advice.
Advising that advertisers avoid sites that allow hate speech and extremism is definitely a form of organized boycotting against any named website, but it isn’t intended to harm those sites, it is only meant to protect advertisers from toxic association with hate and extremism.
I sincerely hope he loses this lawsuit. Putting Garm out of business is shitty, but setting the precedent that you’re not allowed to respond to hate speech and extremism is dangerous.