YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million (£18.6 million) to settle a lawsuit filed by former US President Donald Trump following the suspension of his account after the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The settlement comes from Alphabet, YouTube’s parent company, which also owns Google.
Trump had accused YouTube and other social media platforms of political bias, claiming that conservative voices were unfairly censored after the Capitol riot. At the time, platforms including YouTube said Trump’s posts risked inciting further violence in Washington, D.C.
Under Monday’s settlement, $22 million will go to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit working to raise $200 million for a new White House ballroom. The remaining $2.5 million will be distributed to other organisations and individuals involved in the lawsuit, including the American Conservative Union.
YouTube joins other major platforms in settling with Trump. In January, Facebook’s parent company Meta agreed to a $25 million settlement, with $22 million allocated for Trump’s presidential library. A month later, social media platform X, owned by Trump ally Elon Musk, settled for $10 million. All of Trump’s social media accounts have since been reinstated.
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