Alphabet to Pay 22 Million Dollars to Settle President Trumps YouTube Lawsuit Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube, has agreed to pay 22 million dollars to President Donald Trump as part of a settlement in a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was brought against the company following the suspension of various YouTube accounts in the aftermath of the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. The total settlement amount is 24.5 million dollars, with the remaining 2.5 million dollars to be split among other plaintiffs whose channels were also banned. President Trump originally filed the suit in 2021, alongside similar legal actions against Twitter and Facebook. He argued that the suspensions infringed upon his First Amendment rights. This settlement follows similar resolutions with the other tech giants. Twitter, which is now known as X after its acquisition by Elon Musk, previously paid Trump approximately 10 million dollars to settle its case. Earlier this year, Meta also settled its lawsuit with the president over his suspension from Facebook, agreeing to a 25 million dollar payout. This legal resolution arrives shortly after Alphabet sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee criticizing government pressure on content moderation decisions. In that same communication, the company also revealed that YouTube would begin allowing a path to reinstatement for accounts previously banned for spreading misinformation related to COVID-19 or election integrity. The 22 million dollar settlement from Alphabet will not be paid directly to President Trump. Instead, the funds will be directed to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit partner of the National Park Service. The money is specifically earmarked for the construction of a new ballroom that President Trump is building at the White House. The settlement from Meta was similarly designated for this project. This is not the first major legal settlement for President Trump this year. This summer, Paramount, the parent company of CBS, paid 16 million dollars to settle a lawsuit brought by the president. He had claimed the network edited an interview with Kamala Harris in a way that was intended to mislead the public. Just three weeks after that settlement was reached, the FCC approved the 8 billion dollar acquisition of Paramount by Skydance.
