YouTube settles its dispute with Donald Trump for $24.5 million
YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump in 2021, following the suspension of his account on the Google video platform.
The agreement was disclosed by the Wall Street Journal.
Suspension in 2021, Return in 2023
The former US president was suspended in January 2021 after the Capitol attack, with YouTube citing “risks of real-world violence.”
His account was not restored until March 2023, preventing him from posting for over two years.
The majority of funds for… a ballroom at the White House
Out of the $24.5 million paid:
- $22 million will go to the Trust for the National Mall, a non-profit organization tasked with supporting the construction of a state ballroom at the White House.
- Meanwhile, $2.5 million will be distributed to other claimants.
This choice may seem surprising, echoing a previous settlement with Meta: in January, the parent company of Facebook settled a similar lawsuit with Trump for $25 million, with most of the funds directed to his future presidential museum in Miami.
Three lawsuits, Three settlements
Trump’s lawsuit against YouTube was part of a series of legal actions initiated in July 2021 against Meta, X (formerly Twitter), and Google.
- Meta agreed to pay $25 million in January,
- X approximately $10 million in February,
- and YouTube has now concluded the final chapter with this settlement.
In each case, the platforms deny any wrongdoing and assert they settled merely to move on, without altering their moderation policies.
A battle over free speech
Donald Trump has long accused major platforms of attempting to silence conservative voices. This narrative resonates with his base, even as the companies involved justify their decisions on grounds of safety and content moderation.
Simultaneously, other platforms like Telegram have also faced accusations of political pressures related to their content management, indicating that the issue remains highly contentious.
A political as well as financial settlement
With this latest agreement, Trump wraps up his series of lawsuits against tech giants, collecting over $59 million in total.
YouTube, for its part, prefers to pay rather than further inflame an already sensitive controversy ahead of the upcoming presidential election.
