Meta Agrees to Pay Trump $25 Mn to Settle Account Ban Lawsuit

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed support for US President Donald Trump. Drew ANGERER / AFP/File
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed support for US President Donald Trump. Drew ANGERER / AFP/File
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Meta Agrees to Pay Trump $25 Mn to Settle Account Ban Lawsuit

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed support for US President Donald Trump. Drew ANGERER / AFP/File
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed support for US President Donald Trump. Drew ANGERER / AFP/File

Meta has agreed to pay President Donald Trump $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit he filed claiming he was wrongfully censored by Facebook and Instagram after the US Capitol riot, the company said Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the settlement of the suit brought against Meta and its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, in what was seen as a victory for Trump.

According to people familiar with the agreement, the Journal said, $22 million of the payment will go towards funding Trump's future presidential library, with the remainder covering legal fees and payments to other plaintiffs in the case.

Meta in the settlement will not admit wrongdoing over the suspensions of Trump's accounts.

A spokesperson for Meta confirmed the settlement to AFP.

Trump had widely criticized social media platforms for suspending his accounts after the January 6, 2021 insurrection by his supporters, and comments he made that were seen as praising people engaged in the violence.

But he has recently courted tech titans including Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk, both of whom attended Trump's presidential inauguration last week in Washington.

Zuckerberg has expressed support for Trump, and he has tweaked Meta's policies to lift restrictions on some content within the company's apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp.

Meta would be "restoring free expression on our platforms," Zuckerberg, who reportedly dined with Trump at his Florida estate in November, said this month in announcing a rollback of fact-checking operations.

The settlement is the latest bow by media corporations as they gird for a second Trump presidency.

In December, ABC News agreed to pay a $15 million settlement payment to resolve a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump stemming from on-air comments about him made by a top anchor.

Earlier Wednesday Meta reported its net income soared by 59 percent to $62.36 billion for the full year.



Google To Pay $340 Million to Settle Italian Tax Case 

The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. (Reuters)
The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. (Reuters)
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Google To Pay $340 Million to Settle Italian Tax Case 

The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. (Reuters)
The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. (Reuters)

Milan prosecutors plan to drop a case brought against the European division of Google after the company agreed to pay 326 million euros ($340 million) to settle a tax claim, they said on Wednesday.

The agreement covers the period between 2015 and 2019 and the covers sanctions, penalties and interest, prosecutors said in a statement.

Last year Reuters reported that Italy asked Google to pay 1 billion euros in unpaid taxes and penalties, seven years after the US company settled a previous landmark tax dispute with Rome authorities.

The Milan prosecutors alleged that Google did not file and pay taxes on revenue generated in Italy, basing its claim on the digital infrastructure Google has in the country.

In 2017 Google paid 306 million euros to settle a previous case that found it had a permanent presence in Italy.