Google may be next to settle Trump social media lawsuits after Meta and Musk – report

Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) could become the next tech giant after Meta (META) and Elon Musk to settle controversial lawsuits filed by President Donald Trump over the restriction of his social media accounts following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to The Atlantic.

The president alleged that the companies and executives had illegally censored him at the urging of U.S. political leaders, violating his First Amendment rights.

Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire boss of Meta Platforms (META), settled his case with a payment of $25 million, mostly to Trump’s presidential library fund, while Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla (TSLA) and owner of X (formerly Twitter), followed with $10 million more.

Now it may be Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai’s turn.

Lawyers for President Trump and Pichai have begun “productive discussions” about the next steps of the case against YouTube, “with additional discussions anticipated in the near future,” according to briefs filed in a San Francisco federal court shortly after Memorial Day that appear to have escaped public notice, the report said.

The parties have asked the judge to give them until September 2 to come to an agreement on a path forward.

The development follows CBS News parent Paramount Global’s (PARA) agreement to pay $16 million to resolve a civil suit over what Trump alleged was the network’s deceptive editing of an interview of Vice President Kamala Harris.