Meta agrees to pay $25 million to settle Trump's 2021 lawsuit over suspended accounts
Washington, D.C.: Meta, the social media conglomerate led by Mark Zuckerberg, has agreed to pay former U.S. President Donald Trump $25 million (approximately ₹216 crore) as part of a lawsuit settlement.
Trump had sued Meta after his Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended in 2021 following his incendiary remarks and false claims related to the January 6 U.S. Capitol riots. The lawsuit argued that the ban was unjust and violated his rights.
Zuckerberg, who initially distanced himself from Trump, has since engaged more with him. Reports indicate that Meta has also cut back on its fact-checking mechanisms, replacing them with a system similar to X’s community notes, a move seen as an effort to align with Trump’s interests.
Meanwhile, Meta’s stock performed well despite a broader market decline. On Wednesday, while major indices like Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 closed in red following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates, Meta’s shares ended the day at $676.49, marking a 0.32% gain.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
