Twitter advertising safe, says biggest spender; TikTok ban lawsuit

Twitter advertising is now safe – or, at least, no longer “high risk” – according to the world’s biggest ad agency, GroupM. In other social media news, a group of TikTok creators has filed a lawsuit, calling Montana’s ban on the app “unconstitutional” …

Twitter advertising now safe

The Financial Times reports that ad agency giant GroupM no longer thinks that buying ads on Twitter is risky for major brands. It follows the appointment of ad industry exec Linda Yaccarino as the company’s new CEO, replacing owner Elon Musk.

WPP-owned GroupM, one of the world’s top media agencies, has told clients it no longer considers Twitter “high risk”, just days after Elon Musk appointed advertising stalwart Linda Yaccarino as the social media platform’s new chief […]

On Monday, the agency removed the “high risk” classification, said three people familiar with the situation, a decision that is likely to encourage its clients to increase ad spending again.

The high-risk rating had been based on the unpredictability of Twitter policies under Musk’s leadership, the restoration of previously banned accounts, and the loss of moderation teams to address hate speech and disinformation on the platform.

GroupM said that it was now “cautiously optimistic” about the future of the platform.

Other business figures perhaps lean more on the cautious side than the optimistic one. Martin Sorrell said that it was too early to tell what would happen, and it would depend how much autonomy Yaccarino would be given by Musk. Many are skeptical of Musk’s ability to let go of his fiefdom and allow anyone else to truly run the business.

TikTok ban challenged in court

While the federal government and many US states have applied some constraints on the use of the Chinese-owned video platform TikTik – mostly banning installation on government-owned devices – Montana was the first state to officially ban the app altogether.

Last month, lawmakers in Montana voted to approve a first-of-its-kind bill to ban TikTok across the state. The final hurdle for that bill was a signature from Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, and he has now officially given the bill his seal of approval. The bill includes a $10,000 fine per violation, though there are major questions on how the ban will be enforced.

As we noted at the time, it’s entirely unclear how the state can enforce the ban, with TikTok owner Bytedance saying that Montana had no workable plan for doing so.

The New York Times reports that creators in the state don’t want to take any chances, however, and are asking a court to overturn the ban.

A court battle over First Amendment rights kicked off in Montana on Thursday after a group of TikTok users challenged the state’s new TikTok ban, which is set to take effect Jan. 1 and is the first of its kind in the nation.

The TikTok users said in a lawsuit that the law violated their First Amendment rights and claimed that the ban, which Gov. Greg Gianforte signed on Wednesday, far outstripped Montana’s legal authority as a state […]

The Montana plaintiffs are five residents who “create, publish, view, interact with and share videos on TikTok,” their lawsuit said. 

State attorney general Austin Knudsen said that Montana had expected a lawsuit, and was prepared to defend it.

Photo: Camilo Jimenez/Unsplash