A Senate committee is expected to take a closer look at the activities of one of Congress’s most powerful House committees as news spread this week about some controversial advertising alliance that, critics charge, has created corporate collusion aimed at silencing certain political messages.
The Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) is a “cross-industry initiative” launched as an arm of the World Federation of Advertisers. GARM “was established in 2019 to help the advertising industry address the challenge of illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization via advertising.”
“It was set up in the wake of the Christchurch Mosque shootings in which the killer livestreamed the attacks on Facebook,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “This followed a slew of high-profile cases where brands’ advertisements appeared next to illegal or harmful content, such as child pornography and content promoting terrorism. This included the 2017 London Times exposé entitled ‘Big brands fund terror through online adverts.’”
The group purports to be “apolitical” and “a voluntary initiative”, providing help for brands by offering advice on things like best practices as far as ensuring they don’t end up having their ads placed next to illegal or harmful content that could tarnish a brand.
The GARM website specifies these are voluntary frameworks to guide brands in selecting the content their ads should run adjacent to.
But critics of GARM allege that it has partnered with over 50 big U.S. companies to enact boycotts and stifle speech in a manner specifically aimed at conservatives.
GARM, led by co-founder Rob Rakowitz has expressed irritation with an “extreme global interpretation of the US Constitution” and complained about using “‘principles for governance’ and applying them as literal law from 230 years ago (made by white men exclusively).” With this worldview, GARM pushed what it called “uncommon collaboration” to “rise above individual commercial interest.”
An expansive report from the House Judiciary Committee details how it alleges “big tech companies teamed with blue-chip advertising firms and major industry lobbies to blacklist platforms, podcasts, news outlets that were disapproved by GARM & its members through boycotts and coordinated deplatforming.
Putting it simply: GARM is accused of working with larger corporations to execute ad crackdowns on names such as Elon Musk, Joe Rogan; platforms like Spotify; and even political candidates & news outlets-think Fox News, The Daily Wire or Breitbart News.
“The Committee’s oversight has shown that GARM has deviated far from its original intent, and has collectively used its immense market power to demonetize voices and viewpoints the group disagrees with — even intervening in situations that do not have a so-called ‘brand safety’ concern,” Committee Chairman Jim Jordan wrote in a letter to over 40 companies last week.
“Through its oversight, the Committee has learned that collusive activity is occurring within the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), of which your company is a member. In particular, the Committee has uncovered evidence of coordinated action by GARM and its member companies, including boycotts of disfavored social media platforms, podcasts, and news outlets.”
“The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight into the adequacy and enforcement of U.S. antitrust laws,” the letter said.
Beyond Adidas, the letter was also sent to American Express, Bayer, BP Carhartt Chanel CVS General Motors calling on all of them to preserve any documents reflecting dealings with GARM.
“Membership of GARM is entirely voluntary. Its frameworks and tools are intentionally broad, and individual companies are free to review, adopt, modify, or reject them, as they see fit,” WFA spokesperson Will Gilroy said. “The decision where and when to advertise is always down to the individual advertiser, in collaboration with their agency partners where relevant.”
“Recent engagement with industry leaders suggests that GARM’s work remains valuable and increasingly relevant as digital media continues to develop,” Gilroy continued. “As such, GARM will continue to live up to its commitment to help allow its members to drive more responsible marketing practices.”
