Meta Platforms, the parent company of social media website Facebook, will shell out $25 million to settle a civil lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump over a decision to remove his public profile in 2021.
The decision was made out of safety concerns following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which coincided with a rally being held by Trump following his Election Day loss to former President Joe Biden several months earlier. Trump was accused of inciting the riot at the Capitol that day, and a number of social media platforms took action against his official accounts, including Facebook.
The lawsuit against Facebook was one of several filed by Trump over the decision to remove his online profiles. Similar lawsuits were brought against Google-owned video platform YouTube and Twitter, the social platform now known as X.
Meta Platforms began weighing a settlement last year after its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, met with Trump last November. The settlement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, and affirmed by a spokesperson from Meta Platforms.
The settlement will see Meta Platfoms contribute $22 million toward the build-out of Trump’s presidential library and an additional $3 million to cover legal expenses associated with the lawsuit. The payment structure is nearly identical to a settlement reached in a lawsuit brought by Trump against ABC News; ABC News and its parent, the Walt Disney Company, agreed to pay $15 million for the development of the Trump presidential library.
