President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms (META.O) on Wednesday, alleging that the company suspended his accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Meta Platforms has agreed to pay approximately $25 million to resolve the dispute.
In July 2021, Trump initiated lawsuits against Twitter Inc, currently called X, Facebook Inc, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), along with their CEOs, claiming they violated free speech by unlawfully suppressing conservative perspectives.
After a speech in which Trump repeated false claims that his election defeat was the result of pervasive fraud, his supporters launched an assault on the U.S. Capitol, resulting in the suspension of his Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Meta’s Effort to Mend Relations with Trump Following Mar-a-Lago Dinner
$22 million of the settlement will be allocated to a fund for Trump’s presidential library, while the remaining amount will be allocated to legal fees and other plaintiffs in the case.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, filed a notice regarding the resolution in a federal court located in San Francisco.
The Wall Street Journal, which initially reported the news, reported that discussions regarding the litigation, which had not progressed significantly since the fall of 2023, resumed in November after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg attended a dinner at Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago club.
The social media firm, helmed by Zuckerberg, is working to mend its ties with a leader who has openly criticized its political content policies and has threatened to imprison its CEO.
Meta announced in December that it would contribute $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, a departure from its previous approach.
In January, Meta discontinued its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, its U.S. fact-checking program and its restrictions on discussions regarding controversial subjects like immigration and gender identity.
It appointed Joel Kaplan, a prominent Republican, as its chief global affairs officer and elected Dana White, the CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and a close friend of Trump, to its board.
