Meta Platforms has agreed to pay $25 million to President Donald Trump to settle a lawsuit over his suspension from the service following the January 6, 2021 riot in Washington, D.C.
The settlement, signed Wednesday, ends a legal battle dating to July 2021, when Trump claimed in a lawsuit that Meta violated the First Amendment by banning him.
Meta, along with X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, took down Trump's accounts after insurrectionists stormed the Capitol in an effort to prevent the Senate from certifying former President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. All three companies later allowed Trump back on their platforms.
Several months after his suspension from social media, Trump sued all three social media platforms, accusing them of wrongly suppressing his speech.
U.S. District Court Judge James Donato, assigned to the suit against X, dismissed Trump's complaint in May 2022, ruling that only the government -- and not private companies like X -- are bound by the First Amendment prohibition on censorship.
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Trump appealed Donato's ruling to the 9th Circuit, where he argued that X had acted as a “censorship proxy” for the government. Trump's suits against Meta and YouTube were stayed, pending a ruling from the appellate court.
Two months ago, Trump and X -- now owned by Trump ally Elon Musk -- told the 9th Circuit that they were “actively discussing a potential settlement,” and urged the court to stay proceedings in the appeal.
News of the settlement comes as leaders of large tech companies are increasingly expressing support for Trump. Meta, like other Silicon Valley businesses, donated to Trump's inauguration fund, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg praised Trump Wednesday night, saying on an earnings call that the current administration is “proud of our leading companies.”
The bulk of Meta's settlement with Trump, $22 million, will go toward his presidential library, a Meta spokesperson stated.