Meta agrees to pay Trump $25m for suspending accounts over Capitol riots
GuardianJAN 21
Meta Settles Trump Lawsuit for $25M
Above: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (C) at the inauguration of US Pres. Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025. Image copyright: Shawn Thew/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-Trump narrative
This settlement is a win for Trump, as it shows he can fulfil his promise of reining in Big Tech's overreach and ending the companies' censorship of conservative voices. As it turns out, Meta's settlement and its changed policies are a boon for it as well — evidenced by its recently announced increase of revenue.
Anti-Trump narrative
Meta's settlement and changes to its policies — in addition to settlements by other media entities — are concerning corporate capitulations to political pressure in the face of bullying by Trump. This compromises platform integrity and independent content moderation for business interests and is undemocratic.