By Abiola Olawale
Meta Platforms, Inc., has reportedly agreed to pay United States President Donald Trump $25 million to settle a lawsuit related to the suspension of his social media accounts on their platforms, namely Instagram and Facebook, following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
It was gathered that the reported settlement includes $22 million directed towards funding Trump’s future presidential library, with the remainder covering legal fees and payments to other plaintiffs involved in the case.
This was disclosed by a spokesperson for Meta who spoke with the press. It would be recalled that Trump had criticized Meta and its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mark Zuckerberg, for suspending his accounts after January 6, 2021.
But Trump has recently courted tech titans including Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk, both of whom attended his presidential inauguration on January 20.
This development comes after ABC News, in December agreed to pay a $15 million settlement payment to resolve a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump stemming from alleged on-air defamatory comments about him made by a top anchor.