The question of whether advertisers are steering dollars away from conservative media outlets, ranging from talk radio to podcaster Joe Rogan’s show and Twitter, came under scrutiny Wednesday. At a nearly four-hour hearing, the House Judiciary Committee examined if brand safety standards embraced by many brands and buyers are playing favorites — the contention of many on the right.
“There is an informal pressure system created by Democratic legislators, this White House, legacy media, advertisers, and pseudo-objective ‘brand safety’ organizations. That system guarantees that advertising dollars flow only to left-wing media brands,” said Daily Wire cofounder Ben Shapiro. The syndicated radio host and podcaster testified that he supports a deeper congressional investigation into the “censorship cartels” deciding which media outlets get support.
In lawmakers’ crosshairs is Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), the organization whose framework is used to decide how safe or appropriate content is for marketers. Based on evidence Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has collected from the CEOs of GARM users during a 15-month investigation, he sees potential federal antitrust law violations. Rather than focus just on “brand safety” and “harmful” content as GARM publicly claims, Jordan alleges advertisers are colluding to steer ad dollars from conservative media.
“They collude to make sure that no other advertisers support any news outlets, platforms or creators that these massive companies don’t agree with. And these people do not like conservatives,” Jordan said.
In a hearing that was marked by as much political rancor as focus on the issue, ad community reps defended its use of brand safety tools.
“We have a right to choose where we want to choose our investments or where we want to advertise our brands,” said Unilever USA President Herris Patel. He told lawmakers there are good reasons for marketers to seek out more control, pointing out his company received blowback when an ad for the female-leaning Dove soap appeared next to misogynistic content. “From the Unilever perspective, you can create damage to what the brand stands for and the equity that we build for many decades,” Patel said.
Christian Juhl, Global CEO at the media buying agency GroupM, agreed, explaining that the GARM standards help brands navigate those risks. “Brands consistently inform us that they do not want to advertise next to hot button or divisive content. They want reliable environments,” Juhl said.
Jordan said he was all for guideposts that steer ads away from content related to things like terrorism and harmful images of children, and for any one company to redline content on its own. “What we’re not for is this collaboration to limit advertising because you don’t like their ideology. You don’t like the politics. That’s what we’re focused on. And that’s exactly what’s going on out there,” Jordan said.
Patel pushed back, however, telling the Committee that their decision-making on how $850 million in ad dollars are spent each year is based on what gets the biggest return. “We don’t boycott,” he said. “Our brands have jobs to be done and we have target audiences that we look for. Eighty percent of our marketing spend goes to 18- to 49-year-old women, because they make 80% of purchasing decisions for our business. And that’s how we set our choices on investment.”
But Shapiro said a “complete lack of transparency” about GARM standards is a big part of the problem. “If they simply wish to levy a boycott against a right-wing source, they should simply say that’s what they’re doing, rather than hiding behind fake standards in order to project objectivity,” he said. Shapiro said GARM’s labels — like misinformation, hate speech or insensitive — are “highly subjective” and “purely partisan in practice.”
‘Sham Investigation’
Judiciary Committee Democrats accused GOP lawmakers of looking for a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, calling the GOP review a “sham investigation” and saying the allegations failed to meet even the most basic antitrust analysis. They said the real focus is putting pressure on brands to spend more with conservative media.
“We need to trust the facts that we have gathered, not chase conspiracy theories to force companies to make investments against their will,” Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) said.
Committee Democrats seized on the testimony of Chicago School of Law Professor Spencer Waller, who said antitrust laws are typically focused on mergers and acquisitions.
“They don’t generally micromanage the decisions of corporations as they decide what’s best for them in the market,” Waller said. He also said that, in his view, GARM does not meet the antitrust threshold since it does not create binding industry standards. “They are creating sets of terms that firms can use or not use to make decisions,” Waller said, adding the courts also typically don’t force companies to do business with each other.
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