Elon Musk's social media platform will pay US President Donald Trump $10 million to settle an old lawsuit from 'Twitter' days.

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The $10 million is a settlement over Twitter (now X) banning Trump after the mob attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, suggested a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday (Feb 12).

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The Trump-Twitter lawsuit

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On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters in the infamous Capitol riots led an insurrection seeking to overturn the Republican's defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 US Elections. Over 140 police officers were injured at the hands of Trump supporters wielding flagpoles, baseball bats, hockey sticks and other makeshift weapons along with tasers and canisters of bear spray. 

The insurrection happened after a speech in which Trump made false claims about election fraud. At the time, amid concerns that he would promote further violence with bogus claims of voter fraud, Twitter, along with other social media platforms, removed Trump. This led to Trump launching his own social media platform, 'Truth Social'.

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Musk buys Twitter

Elon Musk, who in 2022 bought Twitter and renamed it X, reinstated Trump's account and emerged as a vocal supporter. During the recent presidential election, he openly backed Trump, who has since rewarded him with a role leading the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. 

Subsequently, in 2022, Elon Musk purchased Twitter, renaming it X. The SpaceX CEO then reinstated Trump to the platform and went on to become a major Trump supporter in the 2024 US Election race.

X has yet to comment on the settlement publicly.

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Meta paid even more settlement to Trump

Trump's grievances with social media didn’t stop with Twitter. In January, Meta—the parent company of Facebook and Instagram—agreed to pay him $25 million to settle a similar lawsuit over censoring after the Capitol riot. News agency AFP reports that a company spokesperson has confirmed the settlement news. 

(With inputs from agencies)