Accounts blocked

Meta settles Trump lawsuit with million-dollar payment

Trump's accounts were blocked one day after radical supporters of the Republican stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.(Bild: AFP/JEFF KOWALSKY, ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)

Meta has agreed to pay US President Donald Trump 25 million dollars to settle a 2021 lawsuit over the blocking of Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts. A company spokesperson confirmed the settlement of the lawsuit on Wednesday in exchange for the payment of the equivalent of around 24 million euros.

Trump's accounts were blocked one day after radical supporters of the Republican stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, leaving five dead, and unblocked two years later. The short message service Twitter (now X) and the Google video platform YouTube had also banned the head of state, who was nearing the end of his first term in office, from their services. Trump then sued the internet giants, accusing them of attacking freedom of speech and "illegal, unconstitutional censorship".

Meta CEO Zuckerberg (left) and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (right) attended Trump's inauguration.(Bild: APA/AP)

Recently, however, Trump and the heads of online giants in the US technology industry have been getting closer again. At his swearing-in ceremony on January 20, entrepreneur Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos were more visible than many members of the new administration - an unprecedented demonstration of their power and influence in the White House. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and the co-founder of the search engine, Sergey Brin, were also given prominent seats.