(Image source from: Etnownews.com)
Alphabet's YouTube has decided to pay $24.5 million to resolve a lawsuit that former US President Donald Trump filed against the platform after they suspended his account due to the January 2021 US Capitol riots, as revealed in a court document on Monday. This agreement makes Google the final major tech company to settle lawsuits that Trump initiated in July 2021, claiming they were wrongfully restricting conservative voices. In addition to Google, Trump had also taken legal action against Twitter, now called X, and Facebook's parent company Meta, along with their CEOs in July 2021. Earlier this year, Meta and X also reached agreements to settle their lawsuits. According to the YouTube settlement, $22 million will be provided on Trump's behalf to the Trust for the National Mall, which is a nonprofit focused on building a $200 million ballroom at the White House that Trump is working on.
The construction of the 90,000-square-foot facility is predicted to be finished "well before" Trump's four-year term concludes in January 2029. The other portion of the settlement funds will be allocated to additional plaintiffs involved in the case, such as the American Conservative Union, responsible for the Conservative Political Action Conference, and US author Naomi Wolf. YouTube did not acknowledge any wrongdoing and is not required to change its products or policies as part of the agreement. Trump did not completely lose access to his YouTube account in 2021; he was only restricted from uploading new videos, and his account was reinstated in 2023. In January, Meta agreed to pay around $25 million, while X paid about $10 million in February to resolve similar lawsuits brought by Trump. Meta’s settlement allocated $22 million towards a fund for Trump’s future presidential library in Miami, Florida.
