Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by former U.S. President Donald Trump over his social media ban. Trump sued Meta and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in 2021 after his accounts were suspended following the January 6 Capitol riots.
Although Meta lifted restrictions on Trump’s accounts in mid-2024 ahead of the U.S. elections, the lawsuit remained ongoing. Under the settlement, $22 million will go toward funding Trump’s presidential library, while the rest will cover legal fees and other plaintiffs involved. However, Meta has not admitted any wrongdoing.
The move signals a shift in relations between Trump and Zuckerberg. After Trump’s election win in November, the Meta CEO visited his Mar-a-Lago estate, and the company later donated $1 million to his inauguration fund.
Meanwhile, Meta continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence, pledging $65 billion toward AI expansion in 2025. Zuckerberg defended this decision, emphasizing the importance of open-source AI and predicting a major shift toward smart glasses in the coming decade.
