There's hardly ever such a thing as truly free money. We pay for everything, in some way: with labor, with time, with suffering.
So getting a payment from a tech or social media settlement isn't exactly free — it's likely the company messed up in some way and it legitimately owes you that cash — but it certainly can feel like getting free money. And if you're already using the tech or platform, then you might as well get paid for the issue.