Thu, 30 Jan 2025

Meta to pay $25m to settle Trump lawsuit over ban

The president sued the firm in 2021 over the suspension of his accounts after the 6 January Capitol riots.
US President Donald Trump's lawsuit against Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, has been settled out of court for around $25m (£20m). The settlement will see $22m go towards Trump's presidential library, while the remaining amount will cover legal costs and compensation for other plaintiffs involved. Meta will not admit wrongdoing in the case, which was filed over Trump's suspension from Facebook and Instagram after the 6 January Capitol riots in 2021. Meta had previously reinstated Trump's accounts in July 2024, ahead of the US presidential elections. The company suspended Trump's accounts initially, citing a two-year ban, but lifted all restrictions later that year. In related news, Meta has defended its $65bn investment in artificial intelligence (AI) following the sudden rise of Chinese AI app DeepSeek. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the recent developments have strengthened his conviction in the importance of open-source AI and investing heavily in AI infrastructure.
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