Prior to the settlement, Zuckerberg had dinner with Trump at Mar-A-Lago and discussed Trump's lawsuit against Meta, Twitter, and Google [1] (about whether moderation decisions of private companies are restricted by the First Amendment, which is almost never the case).
> Now the Wall Street Journal is reporting that when Zuckerberg flew to Mar-A-Lago to have dinner with Trump right after the election, the President (who just months earlier had threatened to put Zuck in prison for life), apparently brought up the case unprompted during the dinner, and said that for Zuck to make amends and be “brought into the tent” he had to pay up
...
> Let’s call this what it is: a protection racket that would make Tony Soprano proud. The playbook is classic: file a meritless lawsuit, make veiled threats (like suggesting prison time), then offer “protection” in exchange for payment. The only difference is that instead of a local restaurant owner paying to keep their windows intact, we’re watching a tech giant hand over $25 million to avoid future “problems.” The case was legally DOA – but that was never the point.
> And Zuck is now using Meta’s money to fund what is effectively a $25 million gift to Trump.
> Now the Wall Street Journal is reporting that when Zuckerberg flew to Mar-A-Lago to have dinner with Trump right after the election, the President (who just months earlier had threatened to put Zuck in prison for life), apparently brought up the case unprompted during the dinner, and said that for Zuck to make amends and be “brought into the tent” he had to pay up
...
> Let’s call this what it is: a protection racket that would make Tony Soprano proud. The playbook is classic: file a meritless lawsuit, make veiled threats (like suggesting prison time), then offer “protection” in exchange for payment. The only difference is that instead of a local restaurant owner paying to keep their windows intact, we’re watching a tech giant hand over $25 million to avoid future “problems.” The case was legally DOA – but that was never the point.
> And Zuck is now using Meta’s money to fund what is effectively a $25 million gift to Trump.
[1] https://www.techdirt.com/2025/01/30/meta-pays-trump-25m-prot...