Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit with President Donald Trump over his social media account suspensions following the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
The majority of the settlement, approximately $22 million, will be directed to Trump’s presidential library, with the remaining $3 million covering legal fees and other plaintiffs in the case, according to multiple sources familiar with the agreement.
The settlement resolves Trump’s 2021 lawsuit against Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which alleged First Amendment violations and “impermissible censorship” after Facebook and Instagram suspended his accounts. Meta’s platforms had banned Trump for posting false claims about election fraud and repeatedly stating he won the 2020 election.
The agreement comes amid warming relations between Zuckerberg and Trump, who had previously threatened legal action against the tech executive. Zuckerberg has made multiple visits to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, including a November dinner where settlement discussions reportedly began and a day-long mediation session in early January.
Meta has recently made several policy changes aligned with Trump’s positions. The company ended its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, scrapped its U.S. fact-checking program, and reduced restrictions on discussions about controversial topics. The social media giant also promoted Republican Joel Kaplan to chief global affairs officer and appointed Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and Trump ally, to its board.
The settlement follows similar lawsuits Trump filed against other social media companies. While a federal judge dismissed his case against Twitter (now X), and his lawsuit against YouTube was closed in 2023.
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