YouTube agreed to pay US$24.5 million ($37.26 million) to settle a lawsuit filed by US President Donald Trump after he was suspended by social media platforms following the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

This makes Alphabet-owned YouTube the last of the three Big Tech social media companies sued by Trump – which included Meta and then Twitter, now called X – to settle over his removal from their platforms.

YouTube will pay US$22 million ($33.46 million) to settle the claims made by Trump to the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall, which is “dedicated to restoring, preserving, and elevating the National Mall, to support the construction of the White House State Ballroom,” according to a court document.

The social media company will also pay US$2.5 million ($3.8 million) to settle with other plaintiffs, such as the nonprofit American Conservative Union.

YouTube directed CNN to the court document when asked for comment.

Meta agreed to settle Trump’s lawsuit in January for US$25 million ($38.02 million).

X’s settlement in February involved a payment of around US$10 million ($15.21 million), according to the New York Times.

When they suspended his accounts, the platforms said Trump’s posts about the riot risked inciting further violence.

At the time, legal experts said similar suits had been dismissed because tech companies have the right to run their platforms as they see fit.

However, the settlements come as tech giants have taken a more conciliatory, if not outright supportive, approach to Trump and Republican interests since he took office in January.

After Elon Musk acquired X – then known as Twitter – in late 2022, he reinstated Trump’s account; Meta followed suit in February 2023 and YouTube the following month.

Musk, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai all sat front and center at Trump’s inauguration, and social media platform has rolled back content moderation efforts that Republican users had likened to censorship.

Just last week, YouTube said it would reinstate some accounts banned for violating now-defunct rules meant to curb repeated posting of misinformation, including about the results of the 2020 election.

In its announcement, the company said it “values conservative voices on its platform and recognises that these creators have extensive reach and play an important role in civic discourse.”