Meta to Pay Trump $25M to Settle Lawsuit Over Ban After Jan. 6 Capitol Attack

Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over the company’s decision to suspend his Facebook and Instagram accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, $22 million of the settlement will go toward Trump’s presidential library, while the remaining amount will cover legal fees and other plaintiffs who joined the case.

Meta suspended Trump’s accounts indefinitely on Jan. 7, 2021, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg citing the potential for continued violence after Trump publicly praised rioters. “We believe the risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Zuckerberg said at the time.

The social media giant later clarified that Trump’s Facebook and Instagram bans would last for two years, with a possibility of reinstatement if certain conditions were met. In January 2023, Meta restored Trump’s accounts, stating that “new guardrails” had been put in place to deter future violations.

Trump originally sued Meta (formerly Facebook), Twitter (now X), and Google in July 2021, arguing that their actions were unconstitutional and violated his First Amendment rights. However, legal experts pointed out that the First Amendment applies to government censorship, not private companies.

While Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter was dismissed by a federal judge, his case against Google was administratively closed in 2023 but could be reopened in the future, according to the Journal.