Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit with former President Donald Trump. The legal battle arose after the social media giant suspended Trump’s Facebook account following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots. Meta AI has dramatically developed since then.
The settlement resolves tensions between Trump and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which had simmered for years since Biden was elected in 2020.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the lawsuit had seen “little activity” until Zuckerberg visited Mar-a-Lago after the 2024 election. The publication reported, “Toward the end of the November dinner, Trump raised the matter of the lawsuit. The president signaled that the litigation had to be resolved before Zuckerberg could be ‘brought into the tent.’”
Reports indicate that a significant portion of the settlement will fund Trump’s presidential library. By settling the lawsuit, Meta and Zuckerberg aim to close the chapter on their rocky relationship with Trump.
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Meta’s Post-Election Changes
In the months following the 2024 election, Zuckerberg implemented several major changes at Meta. These included ending the company’s long-running fact-checking program and rolling back content moderation policies that had previously prohibited dehumanizing language targeting immigrants and LGBTQ individuals. Additionally, Meta discontinued its corporate diversity programs and welcomed UFC CEO and Trump ally Dana White to its board.
