Discussion

• @evelyndouek Evelyn Douek on bluesky

  I wonder if this settlement is more or less than the amount that Meta spent (successfully!) supporting a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court confirming the First Amendment protects their right to remove posts  —  www.washingtonpost.com/technology/ 2...

• @jameeljaffer Jameel Jaffer on bluesky

  This is so incredibly craven.  The $25m is a bribe, not a settlement, and it's an insult to the First Amendment.  If you work at Meta, hang your head in shame. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/ 2...

• @zacheverson.com Zach Everson on bluesky

  Thinking a lot about @repdean.bsky.social (D-PA) grilling Mark Zuckerberg in 2019 about whether Facebook booked rooms at Trump Hotel DC but never stayed—to curry favor with Trump.  —  Seems quaint.  —  www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/ ...

• @drewharwell.com Drew Harwell on bluesky

  “A signal that Meta is willing to do whatever it takes to appease this administration” www.washingtonpost.com/technology/ 2... @naominix.bsky.social @cqzakrz.bsky.social

• @davidfrum David Frum on bluesky

  Inflation.  —  In 2017, Kuwait paid only $60,000 to bribe Trump. www.reuters.com/article/us-u... Today it cost Meta $25 million. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on bluesky

  Important to note trump *was* the government at the time of the bans yet he sued the three private companies claiming *they* violated *his* 1st amendment rights by banning him, even though the 1A restricts him, not them.  [embedded post]

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on bluesky

  I assume the reason is that other users can't unilaterally decide to throw Mark Zuckerberg into prison [embedded post]

• @jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on bluesky

  Would love to get Meta to explain why paying to settle Trump's suit alleging he was wrongfully booted after J6 isn't a precedent to settling cases from other users aggrieved about content moderation calls.  (I've asked this one.)

• @karaswisher Kara Swisher on bluesky

  Knee.  Bent. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on bluesky

  I knew Trump had an identical case going against ExTwitter, and so I went to check on that.  This was filed two weeks after the election in November.  [Screenshot of a settlement notice]

• @nycsouthpaw @nycsouthpaw on bluesky

  This isn't really a settlement; Trump had no case to speak of, in my view.  It's better understood as a nonspecific sort of bribe. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

• @hunterwalk.com @hunterwalk.com on bluesky

  “$22 million will go toward a fund for Trump's presidential library”  —  i can only imagine this ‘library’ [embedded post]

• @lizdye Liz Dye on bluesky

  Facebook pays Trump $25M in trollsuit it functionally won when the identical suit against Twitter got tossed.  —  The argument here was that FB/YT/X were acting *as the government* and thus violated Trump's 1stAmend rights when they deplatformed him after J6.  —  It's a bribe.  —…

• @chrislhayes Chris Hayes on bluesky

  Serious question: can the president just spend all his time in office suing people and then use the litigation as a “legal” way of accepting bribes via “settlements”?

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on bluesky

  This is just something for the history books.  [embedded post]

• @noupside Renee DiResta on bluesky

  Imagine them settling this case for any other user.

• @noupside Renee DiResta on bluesky

  “Toward the end of the November dinner, Trump raised the matter of the lawsuit, the people said.  The president signaled that the litigation had to be resolved before Zuckerberg could be “brought into the tent,” one of the people said.”  —  They're in the tent now.  Cowards.  [em…

• @jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on bluesky

  Meta has agreed to pay Trump $25 million in damages to settle a lawsuit alleging that removing Trump from the platform was illegal.  Message was that the money needed to be paid before Meta could be “in the tent.”  Never got around to filing an amended complaint. www.wsj.com/us-n…

• @brendannyhan Brendan Nyhan on bluesky

  Just stuffing money into the President's pocket - happening right in front of us www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

• @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social Jeff Jarvis on mastodon

  Obeisance.  —  Trump signed an agreement that calls for Meta to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit.  The president sued in 2021 after his accounts were suspended. https://www.wsj.com/...

• @katieharbath Katie Harbath on threads

  3. Settling was a bad call long-term.  While I understand the political necessity now, this will likely put them in binds with public figures and world leaders in the long term.  It shows how they can be pressured to take action and what Republicans were crying foul about with th…

• @katieharbath Katie Harbath on threads

  Here are my two (well, four) cents on Meta settling with Trump: This all concerns their First Amendment rights as a private platform.  1. Deplatforming around Jan 6 was the right call.  Things were very volatile, and he played a role in that.  1/4

• @katieharbath Katie Harbath on threads

  4. These are not easy calls.  There are many tradeoffs, and people will always be angry with you.  It's easy to say all this from the cheap seats now, but I don't think these short-term gains are worth the long-term pain.  4/4

• @katieharbath Katie Harbath on threads

  2. Letting him back on after some time was also the right call.  It set a bad precedent internationally not to have the nominee for President in the United States on a large platform like Facebook and Instagram.  I wrote about this a lot. 2/4 https://anchorchange.substack.com/ ..…

• @repmcgovern Rep. Jim McGovern on x

  Let's call this what it is: A ransom payment. Pay to play. Corruption. Nixon would be proud.

• @joshgerstein Josh Gerstein on x

  Fine print: the putative class action, which was never certified, goes away. So, those impacted beyond the named plaintiffs won't get anything.

• @mattgertz Matthew Gertz on x

  About as explicit a quid pro quo as you could possibly get. [image]

• @ronfilipkowski Ron Filipkowski on x

  Zuck, who suggested 2 weeks ago he wants Trump to impose US tariffs to protect his company from EU fines, agrees to hand over $25 million to Trump. Oh, but it supposedly is going to a “fund” for his “presidential library.” [image]

• @mikeisaac Rat King on x

  in light of this settlement today i think it is worth revisiting Mark's post four years ago when Facebook suspended Trump's account easy to memory hole things in this news environment but the internet never forgets, as they say [image]

• @jason_kint Jason Kint on x

  Just saw this come through on the docket. Of course, and Axios is reporting it at a $25 MILLION PAYMENT to Trump. Quite a transaction for a case with no there there imho. [image]

• @kaitlancollins Kaitlan Collins on x

  Trump signed a settlement agreement today ending his lawsuit against Meta after the company suspended his account in the aftermath of the Jan. 6. The agreement requires Meta to pay out roughly $25 million, $22 million of which will go to a fund for Trump's forthcoming

• @rebeccaballhaus Rebecca Ballhaus on x

  In January, Zuckerberg returned to Mar-a-Lago for a full day of mediation. Trump was in and out, stepping out at one point to be sentenced in the hush money case, and reappearing later in golf clothes and talking about the round he had just played. https://www.wsj.com/...

• @mattgertz Matthew Gertz on x

  Lot of powerful institutions writing big checks to the president to keep his boot off their necks, not great.

• @meghanbobrowsky Meghan Bobrowsky on x

  Breaking: President Trump has signed settlement papers that are expected to require Meta to pay ~$25 million to resolve a 2021 lawsuit that he brought after the company suspended his accounts, per people familiar with the agreement. From @AnnieLinskey @rebeccaballhaus [image]

• r/technology r on reddit

  Meta will pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit with Donald Trump over his 2021 Facebook suspension

• r/ConservativeKiwi r on reddit

  Meta will pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit with Donald Trump over his 2021 Facebook suspension

• r/politics r on reddit

  Meta to Pay $25 Million to Settle 2021 Trump Lawsuit

• r/LeopardsAteMyFace r on reddit

  Trump still expects Zuckerberg to pay $25 million to settle his lawsuit against Meta like a good little bitch