The popular video exchange company, YouTube, has reached a $ 22 million agreement with the president of the United States, Donald Trump, for the suspension of his account after the attack of January 6, 2021 against the Capitol.
The agreement was revealed in a judicial presentation on Monday.
The platform, owned by the Google Alphabet parent company, is the last technological giant to establish itself with Trump after launching a series of demands that challenge their elimination of the main social media platforms.
According to the presentation, the $ 22 million agreement will be directed through the Trust for the National Shopping Center to support the last construction project of the White House of Trump, a new state dance hall. In addition, YouTube will pay $ 2.5 million to several Trump allies, including the American conservative union.
Trump praised the agreement on his social platform of truth, describing it as a “massive victory” and proof that “censorship of great technology has consequences.”
YouTube suspended the Trump account on January 12, 2021, citing concerns about the “continuous potential of violence” after the disturbances of the Capitol. Facebook and Twitter also prohibited it at that time, accusing it of feeding disturbances with false claims of electoral fraud.
In his demand, Trump argued that his suspension was based on “vague and changing standards” and was equivalent to censorship. The legal experts, however, pointed out that their arguments of the first amendment were weak, since the constitution of the United States prohibits the censorship of the government, not the actions of private companies.
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The agreement has caused criticism of surveillance groups. The president of Media Matters, Angelo Carusone, described YouTube’s decision as “shameful and myopic”, warning that Trump’s attempts to press the media and technology platforms.
The agreement follows similar settlements between Trump and other companies. Earlier this year, the X of Elon Musk (previously Twitter) paid $ 10 million to resolve a lawsuit, while Meta agreed a $ 25 million agreement in January, with $ 22 million for the presidential library proposed by Trump. Paramount Global also paid $ 16 million to resolve a separate claim filed by Trump.
Meanwhile, Alphabet faces an imminent trial in Virginia when the United States government presses for the rupture of its advertising technology business.
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