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YouTube to pay $24.5 million to settle Trump lawsuit over channel suspension
YouTube settles Donald Trump lawsuit with $24.5 million payout, following similar deals with Meta and X over social media bans, as Big Tech faces renewed scrutiny under his presidency.
YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by US President Donald J. Trump, who accused the video platform of unlawfully suspending his account after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The settlement, filed in federal court in California, ends a legal dispute that began in 2021, when Trump and his lawyers argued that the platform’s decision reflected a broader effort by Big Tech companies to stifle conservative voices. YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, said at the time that the suspension was tied to violations of its rules against inciting violence.
The deal makes YouTube the latest technology company to reach a multimillion-dollar settlement with Trump over decisions to restrict his accounts. Meta, the parent of Facebook, paid $25 million in January, and X, formerly known as Twitter, settled for $10 million in February. According to court filings, Trump has directed most of the YouTube payment — about $22 million — toward projects including restoration of the National Mall and construction of a White House ballroom expected to cost $200 million.
The settlements, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, were spearheaded by John Coale, a longtime Trump ally who is now serving in the administration as deputy special envoy to Ukraine and Belarus.
The litigation faced steep hurdles before Trump’s political comeback. A federal judge dismissed the Twitter case in 2022, and the suits against Meta and YouTube had been stayed or closed. But after Trump’s victory, his lawyers successfully moved to reopen the matters and pressed for settlements.
YouTube first suspended Trump’s channel on Jan. 12, 2021, after he released a video defending remarks he made to supporters on the day of the Capitol riot. The company initially imposed a seven-day ban but later extended the suspension indefinitely, citing the risk of further violence. The channel was reinstated in March 2023, after Trump declared his candidacy for a second term. At the time, YouTube said it weighed the risk of harm against the public’s interest in hearing from a major candidate.
When his account returned, Trump marked the occasion with a brief post: “I’M BACK!”
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