Meta settled a 2021 lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump alleging the company’s suspension of his social media accounts after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol amounted to an act of censorship.
Meta agreed to pay $25 million to resolve the legal dispute, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic terms of the deal. The bulk of the settlement, $22 million, will help fund Trump’s presidential library, while the rest will pay legal fees and be divided among other plaintiffs in the case, according to Meta spokesman Andy Stone.
The settlement is a major concession by Meta, which for years has maintained its right to determine which posts and accounts should be allowed to remain on its social networks. Meta and other tech companies have fought fiercely against laws seeking to regulate their content moderation practices, arguing any proposals violate the First Amendment by stripping private companies of the right to choose what to publish on their platforms.
But Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told investors Trump’s election gave the company an opportunity to rewrite its historically fraught relationship with the American government.
“We now have a U.S. administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning,” he told investors during a Wednesday earnings call. “And I am optimistic about the progress and innovation that this can unlock.”
The settlement builds on dramatic changes at Meta over recent weeks that have earned praise from Trump and high-profile Republicans. Zuckerberg has eliminated the company’s fact-checking program, ended diversity initiatives and green-lit the company’s $1 million donation to Trump’s inauguration fund. He has also strengthened his personal relationship with the president, taking private meetings at Mar-a-Lago and joining Trump on the dais during his inauguration.
The shift comes amid regulatory battles in Washington and abroad, including an ongoing Federal Trade Commission lawsuit seeking to break up the company.
Trump first filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 2021 alleging Meta, then called Facebook, had engaged in “impermissible censorship” after the tech giant suspended Trump’s accounts. At the time, Meta argued Trump’s account had violated rules against incitement of violence by encouraging rioters who stormed the Capitol in an attack that left several dead and many injured.
Trump’s 2021 lawsuit argued that the company had instead received pressure from Democrats to suspend the account, which he alleged was part of a larger pattern of the tech company censoring conservative users on its platforms.
Trump legal claims have faced an uphill battle because courts have historically held that tech companies have a constitutionally protected right to make editorial decisions about their platforms, said Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman.
“Trump’s case was incredibly weak to the point of being mockable,” he said.
But the Meta settlement adds to Trump’s recent legal victories. Last month, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to fund Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit he brought against the network and anchor George Stephanopoulos. As part of the settlement, the news network issued a statement of “regret” for a “This Week” episode in which Stephanopoulos inaccurately said Trump had been found liable for the rape of writer E. Jean Carroll; he had been found guilty of sexual assault. ABC will also pay $1 million in legal fees as part of the agreement.
Though Zuckerberg pledged neutrality in the election, the CEO has sought to has increasingly sought to mend a once fraught relationship with Trump. Zuckerberg tapped Joel Kaplan, his longtime Republican strategist, as its chief global affairs officer, replacing former British politician Nick Clegg. Meanwhile, Dana White, a longtime Trump ally and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is joining Meta’s board of directors.
Those efforts have prompted criticism from liberal-leaning activists and Democrats who argue the company is taking a hands-off approach to problematic content to curry favor with the president.
“In the weeks following the 2024 election, Meta has gone out of its way to show fealty to Trump and join his far-right clique,” Accountable Tech co-founder Nicole Gill said in a statement Wednesday. “This settlement is the latest example of that - a signal that Meta is willing to do whatever it takes to appease this administration.”