YouTube Agrees to Pay $24.5 Million to Settle Lawsuit Filed by Trump

According to US media reports on September 29, the video website YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed against the company and its parent company's executives by former US President Donald Trump in 2021.

Citing legal documents released on the 29th, US media reported that the two parties reached a settlement agreement, under which Alphabet Inc., YouTube's parent company, is to pay Trump $24.5 million. Trump has directed that $22 million of this amount be transferred to the Trust for the National Mall for the construction of the White House State Dining Room, with the remaining $2.5 million to be paid to other plaintiffs, including the American Conservative Union.

Trump subsequently posted on social media, claiming a "massive victory."

After losing the 2020 presidential election, Trump claimed there was "widespread fraud" in the election. On January 6, 2021, a large number of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, interrupting a joint session of Congress certifying Democrat Joe Biden's presidential election victory. The riot resulted in 5 deaths, injuries to over a hundred police officers, and millions of dollars in property damage.

Following the January 6th Capitol riot in 2021, major US social media platforms at the time, including Twitter (now renamed X), Facebook, and YouTube, announced the freezing of Trump's accounts or restrictions on his ability to post. Trump subsequently filed lawsuits against several social media platforms.

In January of this year, Meta Platforms, Inc., the parent company of Facebook, agreed to pay approximately $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump against the company and its CEO. In February, X platform also agreed to pay approximately $10 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump.