Meta ordered to pay $25 billion in fine linked to 8-year-old data privacy scandal

A New Mexico state court has imposed a $25 billion penalty on Facebook's parent company Meta, following a lengthy legal battle that originated from the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal. The judgment was announced on Wednesday, October 21, in a court filing, after a jury in Santa Fe reached a verdict on September. The social media giant was found liable for deceiving New Mexico residents about its data collection and safeguarding practices, as well as its failure to prevent harmful content from spreading on its platforms.

The jury identified over 43 million individual breaches of the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act, each punishable by a civil fine of up to $5,000. However, the judge had the discretion to determine the final penalty, which was ultimately set at $25 billion. Judge Francis Mathew criticized the company's past actions and internal practices, emphasizing that the maximum fine per violation was entirely justified.

He noted that the conduct was willful, prolonged, repetitive, widespread, involved senior Facebook leadership, affected a large New Mexico audience, and was intentional and systematic. Additionally, the judge ordered that the penalty will accrue interest at a rate of 15% until fully settled. The ruling highlighted that Facebook had not fulfilled its public commitments following the 2018 Cambridge Analytica revelations, in which a political consultancy improperly obtained data from an estimated 87 million users.

The tech firm failed to conduct the thorough investigation it had promised. Although Meta previously negotiated a $17 billion multi-state settlement with state attorneys general regarding child safety and mental health concerns, New Mexico independently pursued its own lawsuit, leading to the trial in September. The original complaint was filed in 2021 by former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, with current Attorney General Raúl Torrez overseeing the court proceedings.