Trump settles suit with Meta over suspended accounts for $25M

Meta will pay President Trump $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit brought by the president over the social media company’s decision to suspend his accounts in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

The settlement was filed in federal court in California on Wednesday. Meta has agreed to pay the $25 million, a source familiar with the settlement terms confirmed to The Hill.

The Hill reached out to the White House for further comment.

The settlement, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, hands Trump a victory after he hammered Meta and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, for years over the suspension of his Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Trump signed the settlement agreement on Wednesday in the Oval Office, the Journal reported. Roughly $22 million of the settlement cash is expected to go toward a fund for Trump’s presidential library, while the rest will go toward legal fees and other plaintiffs, the newspaper said.

A Meta spokesperson confirmed the Journal's report to The Hill.

The president and other Republicans repeatedly accused Meta and other leading social networks of censoring conservative ideas in recent years, often taking aim at the platforms’ content moderation policies, which they argue are biased against their views.

Trump has since warmed up to Zuckerberg, who visited the president at Mar-a-Lago following his reelection and attended last week’s inauguration.

Some Democrats and other technology observers have slammed Zuckerberg and other tech executives for attempting to curry favor with the president to protect their companies from unfavorable legal or policy moves.

Earlier this month, Meta eliminated its fact-checking program in a sharp reversal for the major social media company. The program was started in 2016 and was often touted by Meta as a way to prevent mis- and disinformation on its platforms.

The president suggested the fact-checking changes had something to do with him, telling reporters earlier this month that the decision was “probably” in response to his previous threats against Zuckerberg and the company.

The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld contributed to this report.

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