YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by former U.S. President Donald Trump after the platform suspended his account in the wake of the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
The agreement, reached with YouTube’s parent company Alphabet, follows similar settlements Trump secured earlier this year from other tech firms. In January, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, paid $25 million, while X (formerly Twitter) paid $10 million in February shortly after its acquisition by Elon Musk.
Trump had accused the platforms of political bias and censorship of conservative voices. The companies argued that his suspension was necessary to prevent the risk of further violence as Washington dealt with the fallout from the Capitol attack.
Under the terms of the YouTube settlement, $22 million will go to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit raising funds for a new White House ballroom, while $2.5 million will be shared among co-plaintiffs in Trump’s case, including the American Conservative Union.
The settlements come as major social media companies have reinstated Trump’s accounts and begun easing content moderation rules that had previously targeted misinformation and extremist rhetoric.
Last week, YouTube said it would restore several banned accounts, including creators who had spread false claims about Covid-19 and the 2020 U.S. election. In a letter to a Republican-led congressional committee, the platform stated it “values conservative voices” and acknowledged their role in civic discourse.
The moves reflect what analysts describe as a broader shift in Silicon Valley’s relationship with Trump and the Republican Party, as major tech firms face mounting political pressure over free speech and bias allegations
