Trump Secures USD24.5M Settlement in YouTube Censorship Lawsuit

2025-10-01 05:52:08

(MENAFN) YouTube has agreed to a $24.5 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by U.S. President Donald Trump over his suspension from the platform following the January 6, 2020 Capitol riot, according to court documents reviewed by Several media outlets.

The suit stems from actions taken by YouTube, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) to block Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed the Capitol in protest of his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Trump filed legal action against the companies, though legal analysts at the time said his chances of prevailing were limited.

Despite the long odds, Trump has secured settlements from all three tech giants. Earlier this year, Meta agreed to pay $25 million, while X settled for $10 million.

Now, Alphabet-owned YouTube has joined in, agreeing to a $22 million payment to the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall to fund construction of the White House State Ballroom. An additional $2.5 million will go to other plaintiffs, including the American Conservative Union, a Republican-aligned nonprofit.

Reacting to the outcome, Trump declared victory on Truth Social, the platform he launched in 2022 after being banned by mainstream social media.

“YouTube SURRENDERS… This MASSIVE victory proves Big Tech censorship has consequences… Trump fought for free speech and WON!”, he wrote.

He further urged his 10.8 million followers to amplify the message: “Repost if ALL banned conservatives should be paid.”

Since Trump began his second term, major tech firms have taken a more conciliatory stance. X owner Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos were all in attendance at Trump’s inauguration in January.

Additionally, social platforms have eased several of their content moderation policies—rules many Republicans had previously condemned as politically motivated censorship.

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