News in brief: Elon Musk Adds more Advertisers to X ‘Boycott’ Lawsuit; Streaming Ad Tiers Grow in UK; E-commerce Platforms to be Liable in EU for Unsafe Goods

Elon Musk Adds more Advertisers to X ‘Boycott’ Lawsuit

Elon Musk is adding more advertisers to its lawsuit over their alleged ad ‘boycott’ of his platform, X. Last year, advertisers removed their ads from X en masse as a result of legitimate brand safety concerns, after several big brands found their ads running alongside offensive and harmful content. The lawsuit alleges that brands pausing/discontinuing ad spend on X was a coordinated boycott and hurt its competitiveness in digital advertising. Nestlé, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate, Lego, Pinterest, Tyson Foods, and Shell have now been added to the lawsuit. 

Streaming Ad Tiers Grow in UK

UK TV audience measurement organisation Barb has released its latest Establishment Survey which reveals that 68.3% of UK homes – equivalent to 20 million – had access to a subscription video-on-demand service in the final quarter of 2024. The figure is a slight dip from Q2. According to Barb’s advertising tier estimates, these continue gaining popularity within the UK: Netflix ad tier reached 4.7 million homes, up more than a fifth from the Q3. Similarly, Disney’s ad tier reached 1.5 million, up more than a quarter from the previous quarter. Due to Amazon’s ad tier tactic, 11.6 million homes with Amazon Prime Video access during the quarter were on the ad tier, an increase from 11.5 million in Q3. 

E-commerce Platforms to be Liable in EU for Unsafe Goods

In the EU, new laws are underway which would make e-commerce platforms liable for dangerous or illegal products sold to consumers. According to an EU draft proposal seen by the FT, customs reforms would oblige online platforms to provide data before goods arrive in the region, to give officials more control over packages and their inspection. Under the current law, individuals within the EU who purchase goods online are treated as their importer for customs purposes – the new legislation would make platforms responsible instead. The move is a crackdown on imported goods, amid concerns over the rising number of dangerous and counterfeit goods shipped from Asia to European consumers.