Meta, the company that owns Facebook, will pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit from President Donald Trump. This ends the legal fight that started after Trump was banned from Meta platforms following the January 6 Capitol attack. The settlement comes as Meta works to reduce tensions with Trump.
Meta has agreed to pay about $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit, according to The New York Times. This ends Trump’s legal case, which said the social media platform unfairly censored him when his Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended after the Capitol attack.
Around $22 million of the settlement will go to Trump’s presidential library, and the rest will cover legal fees and other people involved in the case, according to The Wall Street Journal. Meta did not admit to any wrongdoing.
Trump signed the agreement in the White House on Wednesday, CNN reported, saying that Trump and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg talked about the lawsuit in November after Trump’s election.
Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were restored in January 2023. However, one of Trump’s lawyers told the court that there was still a chilling effect on the accounts because they faced harsher penalties for repeated violations.
Meta didn’t comment on the lawsuit but confirmed the information reported by the Journal.
Valuation
We estimate that Trump’s net worth is $5.8 billion and Zuckerberg’s is $233.6 billion as of Wednesday.
How Is Mark Zuckerberg’s Relationship With Donald Trump?
Zuckerberg has repaired his relationship with Trump in recent months, a big change after Trump once said Zuckerberg should “spend the rest of his life in prison.” Although Zuckerberg didn’t support Trump in the 2024 election, he praised Trump after he was nearly attacked last summer. In a Meta earnings call on Wednesday, Zuckerberg said the Trump administration “focuses on American technology winning.” Zuckerberg also went to Trump’s inauguration after Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Recently, Zuckerberg announced that Meta will stop its fact-checking program, which was part of Trump’s claims of bias. Zuckerberg has also become closer to Trump’s friends, like UFC President Dana White, who recently joined Meta’s board of directors. Trump, on his side, said that Meta’s policy changes were “probably” connected to his threats against Zuckerberg.
Tangent
Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos has tried to improve his relationship with Trump after the election. He donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund and said at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit that he was “very optimistic” about Trump’s second term.
Surprising Fact
Meta isn’t the only company to settle legal issues with Trump as he returns to office. ABC settled a defamation lawsuit with Trump for $15 million last month. The lawsuit claimed that anchor George Stephanopoulos made false statements. Some critics say this could encourage more lawsuits against news outlets. Like Meta’s settlement, most of the money from ABC will go toward Trump’s presidential library. CBS is reportedly considering settling with Trump over a lawsuit claiming “election interference” due to editing an interview with Kamala Harris, where he is seeking $10 billion in damages, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Key Background
Trump’s Meta accounts were suspended after many of his supporters rioted at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Mark Zuckerberg said Trump used his platform to support, not condemn, the actions of his followers. Trump was banned for two years in the summer of 2021. His accounts were reinstated in 2023 with rules to prevent future violations. Trump was also banned from Twitter after the Capitol attack but returned in 2022 after Elon Musk, a tech billionaire and Trump supporter, took over Twitter, now called X. Trump mainly uses Truth Social, a right-wing social media app owned by his company, Trump Media and Technology Group.
Published: 30th January 2025
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