President Donald Trump and X Corp. (formerly Twitter, Inc.) have agreed to dismiss the president’s legal fight against the social media giant over being banned from the platform after the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot. The agreement, as per a filing from the 9th Circuit Court, states that both parties will bear their own costs and fees on appeal, without providing further specifics.
In July 2021, Trump initiated a lawsuit against Twitter after being banned from the platform following the Capitol riots. Twitter cited the risk of incitement of violence as the reason for the ban, while Trump argued that his First Amendment rights were violated.
A federal judge in California dismissed Trump’s initial lawsuit in May 2022, ruling that Twitter's actions did not infringe upon the former president's free speech rights as the company was not considered a government entity. Trump subsequently appealed this decision.
Elon Musk, a close confidante of Trump and head of the Department of Government Efficiency, acquired X (formerly Twitter) in October 2022. Following the acquisition, Trump's account was reinstated in November 2022. Trump, who also launched his own social media platform, Truth Social, in February 2022, now posts from his personal X account and the @POTUS handle.
Recently, it was reported that Trump reached a $25 million settlement in his lawsuit against Meta, a platform he sued alongside X and Google for suspending his Facebook account post the January 6 events. The White House has not yet provided a comment on the matter.
