Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion in New Mexico Privacy Case, Plans Appeal

BUSINESS DESK: A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in civil penalties for misleading consumers about Facebook’s data privacy practices. Judge Francis J. Mathew issued the ruling on Wednesday, October 21. Meta said it would appeal.

The decision follows a September jury finding that the company committed more than 43 million violations of the state’s consumer protection laws.

Cambridge Analytica and the Trump Campaign Connection

The case arose from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, involving a third-party quiz app that collected information from approximately 87 million Facebook profiles. The political consultancy’s clients included Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The ruling concerns Meta’s conduct and public statements about privacy. The campaign connection stems from Cambridge Analytica’s work for Trump’s campaign.

State Sought a Larger Penalty

New Mexico sought penalties of $35 billion to $40 billion, arguing that a substantial financial consequence was necessary to change the company’s behaviour.

State law permits penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. The judge considered the scale, duration and repetition of the conduct, along with senior leadership’s involvement, before setting the penalty at $25 billion.

Meta Disputes the Findings

Meta argued that the state had not established actual harm from the allegedly misleading statements. Its lawyers sought to limit the penalty to approximately $3.4 billion and argued that a substantially larger award would be unconstitutional.

The company disputed the ruling and expressed confidence that it would prevail on appeal.

Penalty Proceeds Intended for Education

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the penalty proceeds would support education. However, appeals could delay payment for years.

The privacy proceedings are separate from another New Mexico case concerning the safety of Meta’s products for children and young people.