Meta fined $25bn for 'lies' over user data privacy
The fine is the largest to date against Facebook's owner, larger than an $18bn deal with California.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has been hit with a staggering $25 billion fine for its deceptive business practices. A federal judge in New Mexico handed down the hefty penalty following a two-week trial that concluded Meta intentionally misled the public about its data handling policies over several years.
The judge's decision is not merely limited to Facebook's data practices, but extends to the core business practices as well. The fine marks the largest ever against Meta, who has been either fined or compelled to settle numerous lawsuits this year, including an $18 billion deal with California. Senior executives, including Meta's founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, were found to have communicated in a manner intended to deceive the public, according to Judge Francis Mathew's order.
Although the total penalty was initially calculated at $219 billion based on thousands of violations of state law, Judge Mathew reduced it to the $25 billion figure. Meta has yet to respond to a request for comment on the matter.
Written by urgent.news from BBC Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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