Facebook might send you a cheque home if it had used your picture or data to display in advertisements. But before you get too excited, there is a catch. You should have claimed it in the year 2013. Going back to 2011, in April, a class action lawsuit was filed against Facebook alleging that the social media platform used the names and pictures of people in ads which feature in ‘sponsored story’, without taking their consent. 5 plaintiffs reportedly accused the social network website of casually creating material for promotion, on the basis of the content, post and pages the users ‘like’d. But importantly, the lawsuit extended beyond those people, as it included the users who might have appeared in ads without their consent.
Following long appeals and trials, a California court reportedly gave a settlement of $20 million to the company. This settlement means any person who unknowingly appeared on promotional materials on Facebook ‘sponsored ads’ will be getting a $15 payout. But, the catch is that they should have submitted their claims in the month of May in 2013. Facebook had turned off the misleading ads in June 2013, just before the decision. After the lawsuit and the court decision, Facebook has become more careful with their policy and has given users more control over how their names and photos can be used in ads. Meanwhile, The payments are already out for distribution by cheques and many people on social media posted the pictures of their received money.
Just got a sweet $15 check from some kind of class action lawsuit against Facebook. pic.twitter.com/B90YXOaDRZ
— Camp Christal Lake (@RetroChristal) November 24, 2016
Apparently I was part of a class action lawsuit against Facebook? I’ll consider this $15 check a semi-apology for them pushing fake news… pic.twitter.com/0sTEfo18q8
— Colin Campbell (@RaleighReporter) November 22, 2016
No joke…I literally got a $15 check in a class action settlement with FaceBook. The lawyers got 33Million & I got 1/2 a tank of gas pic.twitter.com/dqj6xhe9Hq
— Madly-in-love (@VeryWhiteGuy) November 21, 2016
What a funny week to get a class action settlement check in the mail from Facebook! pic.twitter.com/LkwJGRRATC
— Michael Roston (@michaelroston) November 22, 2016
Recently, Facebook had been in the news for its content with people accusing its news-feed of single-handedly dividing people, creating opinions of irrational fear and rage by introducing them with conspiracy theories and fake news, before and during the US elections.
