Google agreed to pay $24.5 million to resolve U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that being banished from his YouTube channel after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol was illegal censorship, according to a court filing.
The settlement disclosed Monday ends Trump’s long-running legal challenge to the suspension. The filing says $22 million will go toward construction of a new ballroom in the White House, a project near and dear to Trump. Google declined to comment. The remainder will go to a handful of other plaintiffs who joined Trump in the legal action.
Trump has managed since winning back the presidency in November to secure favorable settlements with other tech and media giants that he accused of mistreating him — in spite of courts having regularly ruled that social media companies have a First Amendment right to moderate content as they please.
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