YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by former U.S. President Donald Trump over the suspension of his account following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.According to court filings on Monday, $22 million of the settlement will go to the Trust for the National Mall to support a White House ballroom project backed by Trump.
The remaining $2.5 million will be distributed among other plaintiffs, including the American Conservative Union and author Naomi Wolf.Trump had accused YouTube, owned by Alphabet, of violating his free-speech rights when it suspended his account in the wake of the Capitol riot.
His channel was restored in 2023.The settlement follows similar agreements with other social media platforms. Earlier this year, Meta paid $25 million, while X (formerly Twitter) settled for about $10 million.YouTube did not admit any wrongdoing or commit to changing its content moderation policies as part of the deal.