Meta Agrees to $25 Million Settlement with Trump Over Facebook Ban

[Social Media]

 

Former President Donald Trump has reached a $25 million settlement with Meta, resolving a lawsuit he filed in 2021 after the company suspended his Facebook accounts in the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.  

 

Trump’s accounts were taken offline following the events of that day, during which his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential victory. In the lead-up to the attack, Trump had repeatedly used his social media platforms to claim, without evidence, that the 2020 election had been stolen. On January 6, he urged his followers near the Capitol to “fight like hell.”  

 

The settlement, signed Wednesday, comes shortly after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was seen attending Trump’s inauguration alongside other prominent billionaires and tech executives. In recent months, their previously strained relationship appears to have improved, with Zuckerberg dining with Trump at Mar-a-Lago shortly after the election. The meeting was reportedly part of broader efforts to repair ties between Meta and the new administration.  

 

According to sources familiar with the agreement, Trump raised the issue of the lawsuit during his dinner with Zuckerberg in November, suggesting that resolving the case would be necessary before he could be “brought into the tent.” Zuckerberg later returned to Florida for a mediation session in early January, during which Trump briefly stepped away to attend proceedings in his hush money trial.  

 

As part of its broader outreach, Meta also donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.  

 

Trump’s lawsuit against Meta was one of several legal actions he launched in July 2021, months after leaving office. He also sued Twitter—now known as X under Elon Musk’s ownership—and YouTube, arguing that social media companies had unfairly censored him. His complaint against Meta claimed that widespread online censorship created a "chilling effect" on political, medical, social, and cultural discourse in the United States.  

 

Trump’s suspension from Facebook and Instagram followed scrutiny of his role in the January 6 riot, with Meta concluding that his posts violated platform policies. However, the former president has since regained access to his accounts.  

 

The settlement marks the latest chapter in Trump’s complex relationship with major tech companies, with both political and business interests shaping the evolving dynamics between the former president and Silicon Valley’s most powerful executives.

 

Based on a report by The Independent 2025-01-31