YouTube to pay $22 million in settlement with Trump

YouTube to pay $22 million in settlement with Trump
The 79-year-old Republican took social media companies and YouTube to court, claiming he was wrongfully censored. (AFP)
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Updated 30 September 2025
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YouTube to pay $22 million in settlement with Trump

YouTube to pay $22 million in settlement with Trump
  • The settlement will go toward Trump’s latest construction project at the White House

NEW YORK: YouTube has agreed to pay $22 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump after it suspended his account over the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, according to a court document released Monday.
The online video platform, a Google subsidiary, is the latest Big Tech firm to settle with Trump after he went to court in July 2021 over his suspension.
Major platforms removed Trump at the time due to concerns he would promote further violence with bogus claims that voter fraud caused his loss to former president Joe Biden in 2020.
The 79-year-old Republican took social media companies and YouTube to court, claiming he was wrongfully censored.
The settlement will go toward Trump’s latest construction project at the White House, through a nonprofit called 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,” per the filing.
Trump’s posting privileges were curbed after more than 140 police officers were injured in hours of clashes with pro-Trump rioters wielding flagpoles, baseball bats, hockey sticks and other makeshift weapons, along with Tasers and canisters of bear spray.
In February, Elon Musk’s X settled for about $10 million, in a lawsuit against the company and its former chief executive Jack Dorsey.
In January, days after Trump’s inauguration, Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle the 79-year-old Republican’s complaint, with $22 million of the payment going toward funding Trump’s future presidential library.
Parent company Alphabet reported the online video platform’s ad sales alone accounted for more than $36 billion in revenue in 2024, per its 2025 annual report filed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.


YouTube to roll out AI video generation model Veo 3 on Shorts in MENA

YouTube to roll out AI video generation model Veo 3 on Shorts in MENA
Updated 07 November 2025
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YouTube to roll out AI video generation model Veo 3 on Shorts in MENA

YouTube to roll out AI video generation model Veo 3 on Shorts in MENA
  • Veo 3 on Shorts can create high-definition videos in English, but platform said it is looking to expand to more languages and creators
  • According to YouTube’s own figures, 61 percent of Saudi YouTube Shorts users reported that they do not use Instagram Reels

LONDON: YouTube announced on Thursday that it will begin rolling out Veo 3, Google’s most advanced AI video generation model, on YouTube Shorts — free of charge to selected countries in the MENA region — over the coming weeks.

The announcement came during YouTube’s flagship advertiser event, Brandcast, marking the platform’s renewed push into AI as it seeks to solidify its regional presence against competitors TikTok and Meta’s Instagram.

“YouTube has been the launchpad for the creator economy across MENA for over a decade,” said Tarek Amin, YouTube’s regional director for the Middle East, Turkiye & Africa.

“By combining the authentic trust of our creators with powerful AI models like Veo 3, we are offering brands in the region an unmatched ability to drive culture and commerce with audiences they can’t find anywhere else,” he said.

YouTube marked its 20th anniversary since the upload of the historic video, “Me at the zoo,” on April 23, 2005, and has been operating in MENA for more than a decade.

The platform boasts high penetration rates — 94 percent in the UAE and 89 percent in Saudi Arabia — making it the dominant video-sharing platform in the region.

According to YouTube’s data, which it described as “significant and unique,” 61 percent of Saudi YouTube Shorts users and 54 percent of UAE users reported that they do not use Instagram Reels.

YouTube reiterated its commitment to regional growth, stating that the introduction of new features reflects its dedication to creators in MENA.

Among these is Veo 3 on Shorts, which can create high-definition videos. Initially, it will be English-first but plans exist to expand to more languages and creators in the future.

The Google-owned platform also plans to broaden the reach of its auto-dubbing feature, currently available to about 51,000 Egyptian creators translating Egyptian Arabic to English — an AI-powered translation tool enabling creators to reach global audiences.

Additionally, YouTube will launch its “Creator Partnerships Hub and Open Call” in 2026 across MENA to help brands streamline collaborations with creators and identify the best fit for their campaigns.

Key consumer trends were also highlighted, including a notable shift in viewer behavior.

A Kantar survey revealed that viewers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE rank YouTube as their top platform for researching, vetting or making decisions about brands, products or services — outperforming Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter) and Snapchat.

Sixty percent of surveyed Gen Z viewers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE indicated that they prefer watching video product reviews over reading written content or listening to audio reviews.

“We’re building the future of streaming, commerce and entertainment on YouTube,” Amin said. “MENA is a global force in content creation, and we are just getting started.”