Amazon to pay $2.5 billion in settlement over alleged wrongdoing in Prime subscription practices: Report
Amazon.com has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle a U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit that accused the company of enrolling customers into Prime without consent and making cancellations deliberately difficult.
The settlement includes $1.5 billion earmarked for a fund to reimburse eligible Prime subscribers, according to a Reuters report.
While Amazon has not admitted wrongdoing, it is now required to simplify its Prime cancellation process.
At a trial in Seattle federal court, the FTC alleged that Amazon duped tens of millions of users by automatically signing them up and creating “dark patterns” that hindered exits.
The investigation began during former President Donald Trump’s administration and culminated in a case filed under President Joe Biden.
The FTC said the $2.5 billion agreement marks the second-largest restitution in the agency’s history and underscores its aggressive stance against tech giants.
Amazon shares were little changed after the announcement.
The company did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
