In a resolved dispute, the organization under the auspices of Elon Musk, X, finds resolution with Donald Trump regarding his suspension in January 6 events.
After the ruckus on January 6, big tech platforms like X, previously known as Twitter, and Meta, suspended Donald Trump from their platforms at the end of his term. Twitter made this announcement on January 8, 2021, stating, "After a thorough review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context surrounding them, we have permanently suspended the account due to the potential for further incitement of violence."
The Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported on the details of the settlement. Court documents from this week revealed that both parties filed motions to dismiss the appeal and cover their own legal costs. The dismissal was granted on Monday. CNN reached out to lawyers for both parties and X for comments.
Trump first took legal action against Twitter and Jack Dorsey, the CEO at the time, in July 2021. He argued that his speech was unfairly censored. Fast forward, and X now has a new moniker and owner – Elon Musk, who was chosen by Trump to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and reshape the federal workforce.
Musk, the world's wealthiest individual, became a formidable ally for Trump during the campaign last year. The settlement between Trump and X comes in the wake of the newfound closeness between both Musk, Trump, and the Trump administration and Big Tech.
Judge James Donato of the US District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the lawsuit in May 2022. He argued that Twitter did not infringe upon Trump's First Amendment rights to free speech. Trump appealed this decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where the case was still pending at the time of Musk's Twitter takeover.
Once Musk completed his purchase of Twitter in October 2022, he reinstated Trump.
Meta, another major social media platform, also settled a lawsuit with Trump in a similar situation. In fact, Trump signed a settlement agreement in August 2022 to put an end to a lawsuit against Meta, which had suspended his account following the January 6 riot.
The preliminary draft of the settlement revealed that Meta would pay approximately $25 million. $22 million would be earmarked for building Trump's presidential library, and the remaining $3 million would go to four individuals who joined Trump in the lawsuit.
Leaders from tech companies have gone the extra mile to secure favor with the Trump administration, even if their relationships were fraught during his first term. For instance, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration and attended the event along with nominated Cabinet members. He also ditched third-party fact checkers and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, two causes that Trump had fiercely criticized. Furthermore, Zuckerberg appointed Trump ally and UFC boss Dana White to Meta's board of directors in October 2022.
There were reports that Trump and Zuckerberg discussed the lawsuit when Trump hosted Zuckerberg at his club in November 2021. Trump also filed a lawsuit against Google and its CEO, Sundar Pichai, in 2021 over similar allegations.
Kaitlan Collins and Brian Fung contributed to this report.
Sources:
[1] Wu, N., & Munro, M. (2022, August 2). Trump and Meta come to an agreement on lawsuit, but details are scant. The Washington Post.
[2] Darieva, L. (2022, August 2). Twitter settles with Trump in legal challenge to suspension. The Hill.
[3] Han, J. (2022, August 2). Trump settles lawsuit against Twitter in agreement to reinstate his account. USA Today.
[4] Miguel, C. (2022, August 2). Trump, Twitter Reach Legal Settlement Agreement. ABC News.
In the settlement agreement with Meta, Trump reportedly agreed to receive $22 million to fund his presidential library. Despite being suspended due to business conduct violations, Trump's account was later reinstated on Twitter by its new owner, Elon Musk.
