this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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I thought the same thing for a moment, until I realized that's for one person. Now imagine a similar class action lawsuit. Of course it's not realistic to expect that dollar amount multiplied by that many people, but it could be a pretty significant dent.
yes.. yes it is realistic.
the precedent is set that it costs 3million per person..
these companies should get zero free passes. hit them with the only thing they care about..money. these companies, if law was actually useful, would have been shut down many manyany years ago, and CEO's would have been jailed by now. if the law actually mattered that is..
I'm going to move to Iceland.
The real takeaway here is not the dollar amount. It's that a jury finally recognized the mechanism: these platforms are designed to hijack attention, especially for young users, and that design choice has consequences. The 3M is a start. What matters is whether this changes how they engineer engagement or just becomes a cost of doing business.
I wasn't commenting on what should morally or legally be. I'm just saying that if there's, say, 1 million plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit it's not realistic to expect 3 million dollars (minus attorneys fees) in each person's bank account. That would be 3 trillion dollars, not including whatever punitive damages end up being. There's a practical issue to be considered.
Far from it actually. If anything appeals may pare down damages and nonpunitive damages must be backed by actual calculations. The bigger point I think is this sort of case can survive.