Video site YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million (about 103 million ringgit) to settle a lawsuit brought in 2021 by former U.S. President Trump against the company and its parent company executives.
According to U.S. media citing legal documents released on the 29th, both parties have reached a settlement agreement, with 'Alphabet', YouTube's parent company, agreeing to pay Trump $24.5 million. Trump instructed that $22 million of this amount be transferred to the National Mall Trust Fund, to be used for the construction of the White House State Dining Room, with the remaining $2.5 million going to other plaintiffs such as the American Conservative Union.
Trump then posted on social media, declaring he had achieved a 'huge victory.'
After losing his 2020 re-election bid, Trump claimed there was 'massive fraud' in the election. On January 6, 2021, a large group of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, interrupting the joint session of the House and Senate to certify Democrat Biden's presidential victory. The unrest resulted in 5 deaths, over a hundred police officers injured, and millions of dollars in property damage.
After the Capitol riot in 2021, Twitter (now renamed as X), Facebook, YouTube, and other major social media platforms in the U.S. at the time announced they were freezing Trump's accounts or restricting his ability to speak. Trump subsequently filed lawsuits against several social media platforms.
In January this year, Facebook's parent company Meta agreed to pay about $25 million to settle a lawsuit Trump brought against the company and its CEO. In February, X also agreed to pay about $10 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump.