Cambridge Analytica case: Judge orders Meta to pay $25bn to New Mexico

In a recent ruling, a judge in New Mexico has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in damages following a jury finding that the social media company had misled users concerning the Cambridge Analytica scandal. This ruling, which came two months after Meta agreed to pay $18 billion to settle claims from 48 other states, is expected to have a significant impact on Meta's operations in New Mexico.

The social media giant stated it is confident it will prevail on appeal, but the ruling makes it nearly impossible for Meta to do business in the state. The Cambridge Analytica scandal involved the improper harvesting of personal data from millions of Facebook users for political advertising purposes, particularly during the 2016 US presidential election.

The scandal came to light when it was discovered that the data was obtained through a personality quiz app called "thisisyourdigitallife," which had been installed on about 270,000 users' devices but also gathered information on their friends. Though Meta learned of the data misuse in December 2015, the company did not disclose it publicly until 2018, following a whistleblower's revelation.

Jurors in the New Mexico trial determined that the misconduct affected all over 2.1 million residents of the state.