Meta Hit With $25 Billion Fine in Cambridge Analytica Privacy Case

Meta, the parent company behind Facebook and Instagram, has been hit with a staggering $25 billion fine in a New Mexico privacy case. The penalty was imposed on Wednesday by Judge Francis J. Mathew, one of the largest ever levied against a tech company for misleading users about data privacy practices. The ruling is tied to a 2021 lawsuit related to the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal, where personal data from up to 87 million Facebook users was obtained without consent by the political consulting firm.

A jury found on September 25 that Meta had committed nearly 44 million violations of New Mexico’s consumer protection laws, according to Reuters. The company intends to appeal the judgment, as reported by the Associated Press. Meta argued that the state failed to prove consumer harm or deception due to its privacy statements and content moderation practices.

The $25 billion penalty is significantly lower than the $35 billion to $40 billion sought by New Mexico, but it still poses a substantial financial challenge for Meta, which relies heavily on digital advertising, particularly through Facebook and Instagram. In his ruling, Judge Mathew emphasized that Facebook’s misconduct was central to its business operations, citing years of misleading statements to users.

Under New Mexico law, each consumer protection violation can carry a maximum penalty of $5,000, with the funds earmarked for public education. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez stated that the decision should serve as a clear message to Silicon Valley. The case stems from revelations in 2018 that Cambridge Analytica, a British firm that worked on Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, improperly gathered Facebook user information via a third-party app.

This data was then used to create voter profiles and target political messaging, sparking widespread concerns about Facebook’s data collection, sharing, and protection practices.

In 2018, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress, and the company subsequently agreed to a $5 billion fine from the Federal Trade Commission in 2019 for privacy violations. New Mexico pursued its case independently from other states that settled the matter last August, enabling it to pursue additional penalties related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

This judgment further amplifies Meta’s expanding legal exposure concerning its social media platforms. In August, Meta was ordered to pay $567 million in a separate New Mexico child safety case, alongside a $375 million penalty in March for child safety violations. Both cases have led to court-ordered changes aimed at safeguarding younger users on Facebook and Instagram.