- Meta ordered to pay $25 billion in New Mexico for misleading data handling claims
- Jury found 26 of 29 Meta statements to be misleading, with 43 million legal breaches
- Judge reduced potential $219 billion fine to $25 billion with 15% interest on unpaid sum
Meta has been ordered to pay $25 billion in New Mexico, after a jury ruled that the company gave residents a misleading picture of how it handles their personal data. A state judge set the penalty on Wednesday in a case rooted in the Cambridge Analytica controversy, which erupted in 2018, Reuters reported.
The verdict came in September from a jury in Santa Fe. The state had accused Meta of misleading users about data access, harmful content and other policies. Out of 29 statements made by the company and its leaders, jurors decided 26 were misleading, adding up to more than 43 million breaches of the state's consumer protection law.
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Under state law, each breach can cost up to $5,000, with the judge responsible for setting the final figure. Judge Francis Mathew calculated that the law would justify a fine of more than $219 billion, but he cut the amount to $25 billion. Meta will also be charged 15 per cent interest each year on any unpaid portion.
“Facebook's wrongdoing — over the course of years and systematically broadcast to the public — goes to the heart of Facebook's core business practices,” Mathew wrote in his order.
What Each Side Wanted
The state's lawyers had pushed for $35 billion to $40 billion. Meta wanted the penalty capped at $3.45 billion, arguing in court filings that a larger figure could discourage companies from doing business in New Mexico. It also maintained that it doesn't sell people's data and that the state never proved anyone had been misled.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez has said the money will be directed to New Mexico's schools. Meta did not immediately comment on the order.
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The Cambridge Analytica Link
The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by Hector Balderas, New Mexico's attorney general at the time. It followed reports that Cambridge Analytica, a British firm that worked on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, used a third-party app to collect information on up to 87 million Facebook users without their consent.
New Mexico also stayed out of a settlement of nearly $17 billion that Meta reached in August with a coalition of state attorneys general in a separate case.
It is the second major ruling against Meta in New Mexico this year. In March, a Santa Fe jury ordered it to pay $375 million over young users' safety, and a judge later directed $567 million to a teen mental health fund. Meta has said it will appeal that ruling.
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