Elon Musk's social media platform, X, has agreed to pay approximately $10 million to settle a lawsuit filed by former US President Donald Trump, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
This makes X the second social media platform to reach a settlement with Trump over the suspension of his accounts following the January 2021 Capitol riot by his supporters.
In January, Meta Platforms also reached a settlement with Trump, agreeing to pay around $25 million. Trump had filed lawsuits in July 2021 against Twitter, now known as X, Facebook, Alphabet, and their former CEOs, claiming they unlawfully silenced conservative voices.
According to the WSJ, Trump’s legal team had considered letting the lawsuit against X fade away due to the president's close ties with Musk, who had donated $250 million to Trump’s election campaign. However, they ultimately decided to proceed with the settlement.
Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, heads the new White House initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to reduce the federal bureaucracy. Trump's legal team is also reportedly looking to settle with Google, which banned Trump from YouTube after the Capitol riot.
X, its former CEO Jack Dorsey, Alphabet, and the White House have yet to respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
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