News
Meta Agrees To Pay Trump $25m To Settle Account Ban Lawsuit
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Meta has agreed to pay President Donald Trump $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit he filed claiming he was wrongfully censored by Facebook and Instagram after the US Capitol riot, the company said Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the settlement of the suit brought against Meta and its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, in what was seen as a victory for Trump.
According to people familiar with the agreement, the Journal said, $22 million of the payment will go towards funding Trump’s future presidential library, with the remainder covering legal fees and payments to other plaintiffs in the case.
Meta in the settlement will not admit wrongdoing over the suspensions of Trump’s accounts.
A spokesperson for Meta confirmed the settlement to AFP.
Trump had widely criticized social media platforms for suspending his accounts after the January 6, 2021 insurrection by his supporters, and comments he made that were seen as praising people engaged in the violence.
But he has recently courted tech titans including Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk, both of whom attended Trump’s presidential inauguration last week in Washington.
Zuckerberg has expressed support for Trump, and he has tweaked Meta’s policies to lift restrictions on some content within the company’s apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp.
Meta would be “restoring free expression on our platforms,” Zuckerberg, who reportedly dined with Trump at his Florida estate in November, said this month in announcing a rollback of fact-checking operations.
The settlement is the latest bow by media corporations as they gird for a second Trump presidency.
In December, ABC News agreed to pay a $15 million settlement payment to resolve a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump stemming from on-air comments about him made by a top anchor.
Earlier Wednesday Meta reported its net income soared by 59 percent to $62.36 billion for the full year.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s 2023 Vice Presidential candidate, has urged President Bola Tinubu to reconsider seeking re-election in 2027, claiming it would be politically unwise.
Speaking on News program, Baba-Ahmed said Tinubu should “throw in the towel” if he is truly the savvy politician many believe him to be. He argued that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has lost credibility, predicting their defeat in the next election.
Mocking Tinubu’s political maneuvers, Baba-Ahmed recounted how he backed various presidential candidates since 2007—culminating, in his words, in an “electoral heist” in 2023.
“If he’s that smart, it’s clear he’s going to lose in 2027,” he said, while suggesting that at least two candidates could defeat the president in the next poll.
He added that Tinubu, like former President Buhari, would fail to deliver on campaign promises. “Buhari didn’t develop Nigeria, didn’t provide security, didn’t fight corruption. Neither will Tinubu,” he asserted.
Baba-Ahmed expressed confidence that Nigerians will rise to reject bad leadership in 2027, uniting to bring genuine democracy to the country.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Ogun State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board has appointed the National Chairman of the Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle, Tricycle, Repairer, and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN), Adebayo Apelogun and thirteen others as welfare board ad-hoc committee members, to facilitate this year’s pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
According to a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, Adebayo Apelogun is the Amirul Hajj, while Ishaq Olorungbebe will serve as the chairman.
Members of the committee are Lawal Iskeel, Shile Rufai, Sabeeq Aladi-Ibrahim, Wasiu Raheem, Abdul-Lateef Afolabi, Ogunfowora Kamoru, Hassan Tijani, Hussein Mustapha and Uthman Akewukanwo
Others are; Alatise Fausat, Egunjobi Kafilat and Jinadu Zainab.
The board urged them to discharge their duties diligently with high level of commitment, so as to ensure comfort and safety of pilgrims from Ogun State.
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