Meta ordered to pay $25 billion to New Mexico in data privacy ruling

A New Mexico judge has ruled Meta must pay $25 billion to the state following a jury's verdict that the company deceived users about privacy during the Cambridge Analytica scandal. State Attorney General Raul Torrez called it "one of the largest, if not the single largest state verdict against a company in American history." Despite plans to appeal the ruling, the funds collected will be directed towards state education spending.

Jurors in September found Meta liable for violating over 43 million New Mexico consumer protection laws after the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica harvested user data for targeted political ads during the 2016 election. This was the only state to take Facebook to court over the matter, with 48 other states settling in a nationwide case.

During the trial, jurors considered 34 instances where Facebook had misled users about privacy and content moderation. State prosecutors argued that Facebook's statements deceived the entire population of New Mexico, not just its social media users. Facebook argued its consumer protection laws do not apply to those not actively using the platform at the time.

However, jurors agreed with the premise, finding Facebook liable for 2.1 million violations, raising the total violations count to over 43 million. One of the few victories for the defense was the jury's decision that the state did not prove Facebook made false claims about removing harmful content, such as misinformation about COVID-19.