Zuckerberg's Meta to Pay President Trump $25 Million to Settle Lawsuit Over Facebook and Instagram Ban Following Capitol Riot
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has agreed to pay about $25 million to settle a lawsuit that US President Trump filed in 2021 against the company and its CEO after the social media platform suspended his Facebook and Instagram accounts following the attack on the US Capitol that year, the WSJ reports.
US President Donald Trump has signed a settlement agreement with Meta that cancels his lawsuit against the social media platform.
‘Trump signed the agreement, which, according to a preliminary draft, requires Meta to pay about $25 million, $22 million of which will go to the fund of the future Trump presidential library. The remaining amount is allocated to pay for the services of lawyers and other plaintiffs,’ said a person familiar with the case.
In 2021, President Trump sued Meta and other tech companies, claiming that he had been subjected to unlawful censorship.
The move is being called a significant concession by a major tech company and a victory for Trump.
Zuckerberg supported Trump and is reshaping his company for the new administration. This month, Zuckerberg made sweeping policy changes to allow more types of speech on Meta apps, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, and scrapped diversity and inclusion initiatives at the company. In some cases, the changes proved controversial for its workforce.
During a call with investors on Wednesday regarding Meta's quarterly financial results, Zuckerberg praised the Trump administration for supporting American tech companies and ‘protecting our values’ and added that ‘This is going to be a big year for redefining our relationship with governments.’
Earlier in December, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to settle Trump's defamation lawsuit. ABC News agreed to donate the money to Mr Trump's future presidential foundation and museum. The channel and its star anchor George Stephanopoulos also issued a statement saying they ‘regret’ the remarks made about Mr Trump during a television interview in March.