News Corp CEO Robert Thomson demands ‘consequences’ for shadowy ad cartel that organized media boycott
News Corp CEO Robert Thomson called for “commercial consequences” for the now-defunct left-wing advertising cartel accused of organizing an ad boycott against a slew of news outlets and platforms – including The Post.
The Global Alliance for Responsible Media, or GARM, was abruptly shut down Thursday after a damning report by the House Judiciary Committee uncovered evidence that its far-let boss Robert Rakowitz coordinated a campaign to stifle free speech and restrict ads.
Thomson said The Post’s parent News Corp is now “considering our legal options in confronting the blatant political bias of advertising industry bodies who have done serious damage and denied many advertisers access to a significant audience.”
“We applaud the work of the US House Judiciary Committee in pursuing the misnomer that is the Global Alliance for Responsible Media or GARM, and its coordinated boycott of media platforms perceived to be unfashionable by illiberal liberals,” Thomson said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday.
“GARM harm has been real, and there need to be commercial consequences,” he added.
A News Corp spokesperson declined further comment.
GARM was a nonprofit initiative formed by the World Federation of Advertisers, an international trade group whose members include dozens of top corporations that account for 90% of global marketing spending, according to its website.
Earlier this week, Elon Musk’s X filed an antitrust suit naming GARM, the WFA and a handful of specific companies — CVS Health, Mars, Orsted and Unilever – as defendants.
X is seeking trebled compensatory damages and injunctive relief over claims that the defendants participated in an illegal ad boycott. The lawsuit, filed in Texas, claims X lost “billions of dollars in advertising revenue” as a result of their actions.
WFA pointed to the House Judiciary Committee’s report and X’s antitrust lawsuit as key factors in its decision to shutter GARM.
“GARM is a small, not-for-profit initiative, and recent allegations that unfortunately misconstrue its purpose and activities have caused a distraction and significantly drained its resources and finances,” the WFA said in a statement posted to its website Friday.
“WFA therefore is making the difficult decision to discontinue GARM activities.”
The House panel’s report included an internal conversation in which Rakowitz appeared to brag that X was “80% below revenue forecasts” since GARM targeted Musk over brand safety issues.
Rakowitz told investigators the email was meant as a “self-effacing joke.”
The report said GARM relied on tools such as the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a London-based group that in 2022 unveiled an ad blacklist of 10 news outlets whose opinion sections tilted conservative or libertarian, including The Post, RealClearPolitics and Reason magazine.
The House Judiciary Committee is investigating whether GARM, WFA and its members violated Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which governs illegal restraint of trade.
In an interview with The Post after GARM was shut down, House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) called its demise “great news for freedom, free markets, First Amendment, all the good things that make America special.”
“The World Federation of Advertisers, we think, has the same bias,” Jordan added. “Our investigation is looking at all of that. It’s all about stopping the censorship however it’s done.”
