Meta to Pay $25m to Settle Trump Lawsuit Over Social Media Ban
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the suspension of his social media accounts following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
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Trump had sued Meta and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in 2021, alleging that the suspension of his accounts was unjustified. The lawsuit was settled out of court, with Meta agreeing to pay $25 million, despite admitting no wrongdoing.
According to the settlement, $22 million will go towards Trump’s presidential library fund, while the remaining $3 million will cover legal fees and other plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit.
This development marks a significant shift in the once-frosty relationship between Trump and Zuckerberg. Following Trump’s election victory in November, Zuckerberg visited Trump’s Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, and Meta donated $1 million to an inauguration fund for Trump.
In a separate development, Meta defended its $65 billion investment in artificial intelligence (AI) after tech stocks were rocked by the rise of Chinese AI app DeepSeek. Zuckerberg told investors that the recent news had strengthened Meta’s conviction in its AI focus, saying, “If anything, I think the recent news has only strengthened our conviction that this is the right thing for us to be focused on”