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A Washington Post reader has sued nan Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper, accusing it of spying connected its ain subscribers to jack up their subscription prices.
Chelsea Blink’s people action title alleges that The Post began "covertly harvesting" information from its subscribers' phones, computers and tablets aft nan billionaire Amazon founder bought it for $250 cardinal successful 2013.
The Post past aggregated and analyzed nan "deeply individual information" to "weaponize" it and maximize profits, according to nan 28-page suit revenge successful Superior Court successful Washington, D.C.
"The much loyal a scholar became, nan much information The Post could stitchery to estimate really overmuch much that personification mightiness tolerate paying astatine renewal," nan tribunal filing says. "Rather than rewarding loyalty, The Post’s system converted Subscribers’ engagement into leverage against them. Longtime Subscribers would extremity up paying much than caller customers simply because nan institution knew much astir them."
Blink's lawsuit, first reported by Mediaite, accuses The Post of violating section user protection rule done its alleged "unfair and deceptive acts."
The suit besides accuses The Post of cruel enrichment done its "surveillance pricing" argumentation and seeks astatine slightest $1,500 successful statutory damages for each subscriber who was affected, positive unspecified punitive damages and ineligible fees.
A spokesperson for The Post didn't instantly respond to an enquiry from The Independent sent to its apical editors.
In an ironic twist, nan suit was revenge 3 days aft The Post published an article titled, "What to cognize astir move market pricing and really it mightiness impact your bill."
The Post's alleged pricing believe was revealed successful March by Washingtonian magazine, which reported that immoderate subscribers had received emails offering them caller renewal rates that were "set by an algorithm utilizing your individual data."
Those emails were sent successful consequence to a New York authorities disclosure rule that took effect successful nan autumn of 2026, according to Thursday's lawsuit.
"Left to its ain devices, The Post would person ne'er disclosed its surveillance pricing practices," nan suit alleges.
The suit besides says that a subscriber wrote connected societal media astir "seeing a renewal jump from $170 to $260, cancelled successful response, past later clicked a nexus to an article and was shown a caller subscription connection again, referencing nan aged little yearly price."
"Another personification instantly asked: 'Why was yours $170 originally...I managed to get a $60 deal,'" according to nan tribunal filing.
The suit is nan latest achromatic oculus for The Post, which inspired a procreation of early journalists erstwhile it uncovered nan Watergate scandal that forced President Richard Nixon to resign nether unit successful 1974.
The Post lost astir 300,000 subscribers aft Bezos blocked its editorial committee from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president successful 2024 and ended nan believe of making endorsements.
Critics accused Bezos — who gave The Post its “Democracy Dies successful Darkness” motto aft buying it — of trying to curry favor pinch then-former President Donald Trump, who hit Harris to regain nan White House.
Bezos later defended his move arsenic a "principled decision."
The Post mislaid different 75,000 subscribers successful early 2025 aft Bezos said its sentiment pages would only beforehand "personal liberties" and "free markets,” and would exclude different points of view.
And earlier this year, The Post laid disconnected arsenic galore arsenic 375 employees, astir half its workforce, successful a move that gutted its section and world news departments, Washingtonian reported soon afterward.
The wide firings besides wiped out The Post's sports and books sum and eliminated each unit photographers, according to Washingtonian.
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