Alphabet will pay President Donald Trump $22 million as part of a settlement in a class action lawsuit brought against the company over the suspension of various YouTube accounts following the January 6 riot at the US capital, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The suit includes other plaintiffs whose YouTube channels were banned that will split an additional $2.5 million in settlement payouts.
Trump filed the suit in 2021, alongside lawsuits against Twitter and Facebook over similar suspensions, claiming they infringed on his first amendment rights. Twitter, now known as X since its acquisition and rebrand by Elon Musk, paid President Trump roughly $10 million to settle that suit. Meta also settled its suit with the president over his suspension from the platform for $25 million earlier this year.
This settlement comes shortly after Alphabet wrote a letter to the House Judiciary Committee lambasting government pressure to moderate content on its platforms. The company also shared that YouTube would be offering a path to reinstatement for accounts previously banned for COVID-19 or election integrity related misinformation.
The settlement from Alphabet will be paid to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, and will be earmarked for construction of the ballroom that President Trump is building at The White House. The monies from the Meta settlement were similarly earmarked.
This summer Paramount, parent company of CBS, settled a lawsuit brought by the president over claims that the network intended to “confuse, deceive and mislead the public” by editing an interview with Kamala Harris. The media company paid $16 million to settle the president’s suit. Three weeks later the FCC approved the $8 billion acquisition of Paramount by Skydance.