EEUU impone una multa histórica de 25.000 millones de dólares a Meta

A historic $25 billion fine imposed by a New Mexico judge on Meta for violating Facebook's confidentiality agreements has been detailed. The U.S. justice system has recently imposed the unprecedented $22.24 billion fine on Meta for enabling the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked for Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign, to access user data.

This comes just hours before Meta's Q2 earnings announcement. The New Mexico state judge imposed the penalty after the state's jury found Meta guilty of misleading users about privacy and content moderation policies on Facebook. The state's attorney general, Raúl Torrez, described the verdict as one of the largest, if not the largest, state decisions in U.S. history.

The funds from the fine are earmarked for New Mexico's education budget. It's possible that the money may remain frozen if Meta appeals the decision, as is expected. In September, a jury found Meta responsible for over 43 million violations of New Mexico's consumer protection laws when Cambridge Analytica collected user data from Facebook to generate targeted political ads for the 2016 election.

Other 48 U.S. states reached an agreement with Facebook in a national case, but New Mexico chose to sue the social network. New Mexico's lawyers had sought between $35 billion and $40 billion, arguing that the company would only change its practices with a sum that would affect the stock price. Zuckerberg's group argued that the fine should not exceed $3.4 billion, claiming that a tenfold or even greater indemnification would be unconstitutional.

It's worth noting that in August, a federal judge ordered Meta to pay $940 million in damages for the harm created by Facebook and Instagram to the mental health of minors. The amount included a ratification of $375 million in civil penalties and an additional $576 million for a fund to compensate minors, setting a precedent in the sector's provision funds.

Additionally, the ruling required Meta to limit the time spent by minors on their social networks, hide "likes" and report the risks of platforms like Facebook or Instagram.