YouTube has agreed to pay US president Donald Trump $24.5 million (R422 million) to settle a lawsuit brought against it by the statesman, according to reports.
Trump filed the lawsuit after the video streaming platform suspended his YouTube account in response to the 6 January insurrection, at the US Capitol in 2021.
The settlement comes as other tech giants – Meta and X (formerly Twitter) – have reportedly also reached similar settlements with the president over the suspension of his accounts from their platforms.
The US president accused YouTube and other tech companies of political bias, claiming they had unfairly censored conservative voices after the Capitol riot in 2021, as reported by BBC.
Aljazeera reports that as part of the settlement, the Alphabet-owned platform will contribute $22 million on Trump’s behalf to the Trust for the National Mall, a non-profit that is overseeing a $200 million project to construct a ballroom at the White House.
The remaining $2.5 million will go to other complainants in the case, including the American Conservative Union and American author Naomi Wolf, adds the report.
However, the settlement does not include any admission of wrongdoing by YouTube and was reached for the “sole purpose of compromising disputed claims and avoiding the expenses and risks of further litigation”, it notes.
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