YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over his suspension from the platform following the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
According to a federal court filing in Oakland, the Alphabet-owned platform will pay $22 million to the Trust for the National Mall to fund the construction of a White House state ballroom, a long-time project Trump has pushed since returning to office. The remaining $2.5 million will be distributed among other plaintiffs, including the American Conservative Union, Andrew Baggiani, Austen Fletcher, Maryse Veronica Jean-Louis, Frank Valentine, Kelly Victory, and Naomi Wolf.
This is not the first time Trump has secured settlements from social media platforms that suspended his accounts. Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, as well as Twitter (now X), have also reached deals with him in the past.
The settlement makes clear that YouTube is not admitting liability, stating it was agreed upon “for the sole purpose of compromising disputed claims and avoiding the expenses and risks of further litigation.”
YouTube suspended Trump in January 2021, citing concerns about the potential for violence. At the time, the platform announced that Trump’s channel had received a strike and was temporarily banned from uploading content. His account was reinstated in 2023.
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