Meta has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump for $25 million, according to news reports.
The settlement reportedly includes $22 million earmarked toward Trump's presidential library, with the remainder going to legal fees and other plaintiffs in the case. Trump reached similar terms with ABC News last month.
Trump sued the Facebook parent company after it chose to suspend his account on that platform following the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. Trump had shared two posts the social media platform said supported the rioting and violated their terms.
"The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Meta head Mark Zuckerberg wrote at the time. "We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete."
After finding himself booted from YouTube, Facebook and X, Trump launched his own competing social media platform. Trump's accounts on Facebook and X have since been reinstated.
The agreement to settle comes as Zuckerberg has made clear efforts to ingratiate himself with the Trump administration. Beyond appearances on conservative talking point clearinghouses like "The Joe Rogan Experience" and donations to Trump's inauguration, Meta has rolled back protections against misinformation and removed some hate speech guidelines.
The moves drew recrimination from outgoing President Joe Biden.
"Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling, editors are disappearing," Biden said in his farewell address. "Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies, told for power and for profit."
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