Politics

/

ArcaMax

Meta to pay $25 million to end Trump lawsuit over Jan. 6 ban

Peter Blumberg, Bloomberg News on

Published in Political News

Meta Platforms Inc. agreed to pay $25 million to resolve Donald Trump’s claims that his ban from the company’s social media networks after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol was illegal censorship, a lawyer for the president said.

Meta will contribute $22 million to the presidential library and the remainder to other users of Meta’s Facebook who also sued over being banned, lawyer John Coale said in a phone interview. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed details of the agreement and declined further comment.

The settlement comes as the once-chilly relationship between Trump and Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has warmed up. Zuckerberg recently loosened content restrictions on the company’s platforms that conservatives have complained about for years, and he attended the president’s inauguration.

When Trump first sued Facebook over the ban — and separately sued Twitter Inc. and Google’s YouTube over the bans they imposed following the Jan. 6 attack — he sought monetary damages to punish the companies and ensure other users can’t be banned or flagged by the tech giants.

All three companies eventually dropped the bans, but by then Trump had largely shifted his social media commentary to his own network, Truth Social.

“I’m glad it’s over with,” Coale said. “Meta should have paid this kind of money because they did some pretty bad things back in 2021.”

 

Coale said Zuckerberg personally reached the settlement with Trump while recently visiting the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

There’s no admission of wrongdoing by Meta in the accord, Coale said.

“They’ve taken responsibility and hopefully everybody’s happy now,” he said.

The settlement was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

(With assistance from Sabrina Willmer.)


©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

 

Related Channels

ACLU

ACLU

By The ACLU
Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman

By Amy Goodman
Armstrong Williams

Armstrong Williams

By Armstrong Williams
Austin Bay

Austin Bay

By Austin Bay
Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro

By Ben Shapiro
Betsy McCaughey

Betsy McCaughey

By Betsy McCaughey
Bill Press

Bill Press

By Bill Press
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

By Bonnie Jean Feldkamp
Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas

By Cal Thomas
Christine Flowers

Christine Flowers

By Christine Flowers
Clarence Page

Clarence Page

By Clarence Page
Danny Tyree

Danny Tyree

By Danny Tyree
David Harsanyi

David Harsanyi

By David Harsanyi
Debra Saunders

Debra Saunders

By Debra Saunders
Dennis Prager

Dennis Prager

By Dennis Prager
Dick Polman

Dick Polman

By Dick Polman
Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson

By Erick Erickson
Froma Harrop

Froma Harrop

By Froma Harrop
Jacob Sullum

Jacob Sullum

By Jacob Sullum
Jamie Stiehm

Jamie Stiehm

By Jamie Stiehm
Jeff Robbins

Jeff Robbins

By Jeff Robbins
Jessica Johnson

Jessica Johnson

By Jessica Johnson
Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower

By Jim Hightower
Joe Conason

Joe Conason

By Joe Conason
Joe Guzzardi

Joe Guzzardi

By Joe Guzzardi
John Micek

John Micek

By John Micek
John Stossel

John Stossel

By John Stossel
Josh Hammer

Josh Hammer

By Josh Hammer
Judge Andrew Napolitano

Judge Andrew Napolitano

By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Laura Hollis

Laura Hollis

By Laura Hollis
Marc Munroe Dion

Marc Munroe Dion

By Marc Munroe Dion
Michael Barone

Michael Barone

By Michael Barone
Michael Reagan

Michael Reagan

By Michael Reagan
Mona Charen

Mona Charen

By Mona Charen
Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

By Oliver North and David L. Goetsch
R. Emmett Tyrrell

R. Emmett Tyrrell

By R. Emmett Tyrrell
Rachel Marsden

Rachel Marsden

By Rachel Marsden
Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry

By Rich Lowry
Robert B. Reich

Robert B. Reich

By Robert B. Reich
Ruben Navarrett Jr

Ruben Navarrett Jr

By Ruben Navarrett Jr.
Ruth Marcus

Ruth Marcus

By Ruth Marcus
S.E. Cupp

S.E. Cupp

By S.E. Cupp
Salena Zito

Salena Zito

By Salena Zito
Star Parker

Star Parker

By Star Parker
Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore

By Stephen Moore
Susan Estrich

Susan Estrich

By Susan Estrich
Ted Rall

Ted Rall

By Ted Rall
Terence P. Jeffrey

Terence P. Jeffrey

By Terence P. Jeffrey
Tim Graham

Tim Graham

By Tim Graham
Tom Purcell

Tom Purcell

By Tom Purcell
Veronique de Rugy

Veronique de Rugy

By Veronique de Rugy
Victor Joecks

Victor Joecks

By Victor Joecks
Wayne Allyn Root

Wayne Allyn Root

By Wayne Allyn Root

Comics

David Fitzsimmons Kirk Walters Adam Zyglis Gary McCoy David Horsey Darrin Bell