The social media company Meta has agreed to settle a four-year-old lawsuit with President Donald Trump, agreeing Wednesday to pay him $25 million.
The lawsuit stemmed from Meta’s decision to suspend Trump’s accounts after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol and now comes to a close after a notice of settlement was filed in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said that the terms of the settlement include a $25 million payment from the company. $22 million of those funds will go towards a fund for Trump’s presidential library, and the remainder will go to legal fees and other plaintiffs in the case.
Stone also noted that there is no requirement in the settlement for Meta to admit any wrongdoing.
Meta is now the second major company to settle a lawsuit with Trump after his 2024 election victory. In December, ABC News settled a case that involved Trump accusing anchor George Stephanopoulos of defaming him.
The settlement from Meta also comes at a time when the company’s CEO has grown closer with the president, donating money to his inauguration fund, meeting with him at Mar-a-Lago, and even sitting in the front row while he was sworn in this month.
In recent months, Meta has also shifted several of its policies, now more closely aligning with the Trump administration on several fronts, including content moderation and DEI programs.
As for the lawsuit, Meta was not alone when it banned Trump from its platforms in 2021, as almost every other tech company did so at the time.
On Jan. 7, 2021, Zuckerberg wrote in a post on Facebook that Trump’s refusal to condemn his supporters and their actions at the Capitol showed he “intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.”
Trump’s accounts on the platform and on Instagram were locked until February 2023, when Zuckerberg decided to change course.