Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter), has agreed to pay between $10 million and settle a lawsuit brought by former President Donald Trump over the 2021 suspension of his account on the platform. The settlement comes after Musk reinstated Trump’s account in 2022, following a significant financial donation from the president.
The lawsuit was filed after Trump’s accounts were suspended following the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Twitter cited inflammatory posts that could lead to further violence as the reason for the suspension. Trump sued, claiming Twitter and other tech firms had wrongfully censored him.
Musk has thrown his support behind Trump, donating over $250 million to his campaign and launching a government cost-cutting initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency. The settlement strengthens their relationship and provides clarity on the lawsuit.
The terms of the agreement were not publicly disclosed in court filings, but both parties agreed to pay their own costs. A previous report by The Wall Street Journal stated that Musk’s X would pay $10 million. It is unclear who will receive the funds.
This latest settlement follows similar agreements with other tech companies, including Meta (Facebook) and ABC News, which paid $25 million and $15 million respectively to settle defamation lawsuits brought by Trump.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/technology/musk-x-settles-trump-lawsuit.html