US FTC in settlement talks with ad companies in boycott probe, WSJ reports
Source: Reuters
April 12, 2026 5:50 PM EDT Updated 10 hours ago
April 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is negotiating a potential settlement with several major advertising companies to resolve a probe into whether they violated federal antitrust laws by coordinating boycotts against platforms, including Elon Musk’s X, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Several advertising firms, including Dentsu (4324.T), Publicis (PUBP.PA), and WPP (WPP.L), would commit not to direct clients' advertising budgets away from media platforms based on political content that might appear on those sites, the Journal said.
However, individual advertisers would still be free to choose to avoid specific sites for their advertisements, the report added. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The FTC did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Last year, the agency greenlit Omnicom's (OMC.N) $13.5 billion acquisition of rival Interpublic on the condition the new company does not enter agreements with others to steer ad dollars toward or away from publishers based on political content. Talks between the FTC and the advertising companies are ongoing, and it remains possible that no deal will be reached, the report said.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-ftc-settlement-talks-with-ad-companies-boycott-probe-wsj-reports-2026-04-12/
Sounds like a First Amendment thing and 45,meddling in "private" corporate decisions.
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