12:21 PM EDT, 08/06/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with details throughout.)

Rumble (RUM) and social-media platform X said Tuesday they have filed antitrust lawsuits against an advertising coalition that allegedly conspired to withhold advertising revenue from digital media platforms.

The lawsuits were filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, naming the World Federation of Advertisers, as well as advertising agency WPP ( WPP ) and its GroupM Worldwide unit, as defendants.

"GARM used those one-size-fits-all standards to perpetrate an advertiser boycott against Rumble and other platforms," Rumble said. "The brand safety standards set by advertisers and their ad agencies should succeed or fail in the marketplace on their own merits and not through the coercive exercise of market power."

"To put it simply, people are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is undermined and some viewpoints are not funded over others as part of an illegal boycott," X Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino said in a post on the platform. "This behavior is a stain on a great industry, and cannot be allowed to continue."

WPP ( WPP ) and GARM didn't immediately respond to MT Newswires' request for comment.

Rumble shares were down 1.3% in recent trading.

Price: 5.84, Change: -0.08, Percent Change: -1.27