YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Trump over his suspension from the platform following the January 6, 2021 events at the Capitol.
The deal makes the Alphabet-owned video platform the last of the three major social media companies sued by Trump — alongside Meta and X — to resolve the litigation over his removal.
According to court filings, YouTube will pay $22 million to the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall, which is “dedicated to restoring, preserving, and elevating the National Mall, to support the construction of the White House State Ballroom.” An additional $2.5 million will go to other plaintiffs, including the American Conservative Union.
Meta settled Trump’s lawsuit in January for $25 million, while X reached a roughly $10 million settlement in February.
The settlement comes a week after YouTube announced it would reinstate some accounts previously banned for repeatedly posting content that violated its now-defunct policies on “misinformation,” including regarding the 2020 election. The company said it “values conservative voices on its platform and recognizes that these creators have extensive reach and play an important role in civic discourse.”
