Meta has agreed to pay President Donald Trump $25 million (€24 million) to settle a 2021 lawsuit he filed over the suspension of his Facebook and Instagram accounts after the Jan 6th riot at the Capitol.
The move was a significant concession by a major tech company and a victory for Trump, who had previously criticised social media platforms for censoring him but has lately wooed tech titans including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive.
Zuckerberg has thrown his support behind Trump and has been remaking his company for the new administration. This month, Zuckerberg made sweeping policy changes to allow for more types of speech across Meta’s apps – which include Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp – and eliminated diversity and inclusion initiatives across the company. In some cases, the changes have proved contentious to his workforce.
In a call with investors Wednesday for Meta’s quarterly financial results, Zuckerberg praised the Trump administration for supporting American tech companies and “defending our values.”
He added, “This is going to be a big year for redefining our relationships with governments.”
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other apps, posted a 21 per cent jump in revenue and a 49 per cent increase in profit for the fourth quarter, but gave a lighter-than-expected revenue forecast for the current quarter.
In December, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit by Trump. ABC News agreed to donate the money to Trump’s future presidential foundation and museum. The network and its star anchor, George Stephanopoulos, also published a statement saying they “regret” remarks that were made about Trump during a televised interview in March.
Meta’s settlement with Trump was earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal.
On Wednesday, Meta said its increased revenue and profit for the fourth quarter were driven largely by advancements in its systems for advertisement targeting and suggesting relevant posts and videos to users. Those improvements came from its continued investments in artificial intelligence, the company said.
Revenue for the fourth quarter was $48.4 billion, up from $40.1 billion a year earlier and above Wall Street estimates of $47 billion, according to data compiled by FactSet, a market analysis firm. Profit was $20.8 billion, up from $14 billion a year earlier.
But the Silicon Valley company also said it expected revenue in the current quarter to come in at $39.5 billion to $41.8 billion. The low end of the forecast was below analyst expectations of $41.7 billion.
The revenue projection raised questions among investors, especially as Meta plans to increase its spending. Last week, Meta said its spending this year would total more than $60 billion to $65 billion on data centres and other infrastructure this year, up from the roughly $38 billion to $40 billion it spent in 2024, as it works to gain an edge in the race to develop AI.
Google, Amazon, Microsoft and smaller firms like OpenAI are also shelling out billions to lead in AI. In recent days, Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek has raised questions about how the technology is developed after it created a new AI model for a fraction of the cost of many US firms. – The New York Times
