On September 30, YouTube settled a lawsuit in which Trump was the plaintiff for $24.5 million after he was suspended from the platform following the January 6, 2021 insurrection that he caused.
$22 million will be given to the Trust for the National Mall, which is involved in Trump’s scheme to expand the White House State Ballroom. The remaining $2.5 million will go to settlements with Trump’s allied plaintiffs such as the American “Conservative” Union.
YouTube had no sound legal reason to concede amid this lawsuit, as the Constitution does not apply to private businesses; legal scholars overwhelmingly concur that YouTube can run as it sees fit, and restrict whomever it may please.
Alphabet CEO (Alphabet owns YouTube and Google) Sundar Pichai not only sat alongside other technological oligarchs at Trump’s second inauguration, but joined a recent White House dinner hosted by Trump.
YouTube has also recently stated that it would reinstate some accounts that violated its previously held rules that prevented misinformation and disinformation.
In its announcement, the company said it “values conservative voices on its platform and recognizes that these creators have extensive reach and play an important role in civic discourse.”
CNN Business
YouTube made no comment about valuing liberal voices. It also did not explain how lying, which is what these right-wing accounts were initially banned for, contributes to “civic discourse.”
