Billionaire Elon Musk’s company, X (formerly Twitter), has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump after he was removed from the platform for his role in the January 6 Capitol Riots. The settlement comes after fellow billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and his company Meta agreed to pay $25 million earlier this month.
Musk spent over $250 million to help get Trump elected, according to reports. Trump’s lawsuit against Musk included then-Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey. The decision to settle the case is seen as an attempt by Musk to avoid potential retribution from Trump, who has threatened to target critics and rivals with lawsuits.
The settlement is part of a larger trend of large corporations settling litigation with the president. Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle a similar suit filed by Trump after it suspended his accounts following the January 6 attacks. The terms of the agreement included $22 million going to the nonprofit that will become Trump’s future presidential library, while the balance went to legal fees and other litigants.
Social media platforms are protected from liability under Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which allows them to moderate their services by removing posts that violate their standards. However, Trump and some politicians have argued that social media platforms have abused this protection and should lose their immunity or have it curtailed.
The Meta settlement comes after other major news organizations, including ABC News and CBS News, agreed to pay millions of dollars to settle defamation lawsuits filed by Trump.
Source: https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/02/maga-billionaire-latest-to-pay-millions-to-settle-trump-lawsuit.html