Meta ordered to pay $25bn to New Mexico in Cambridge Analytica data-privacy case

Meta Platforms has been ordered to pay a massive US$25 billion civil penalty to the state of New Mexico following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, marking one of the largest verdicts in US legal history. This decision, handed down by state court Judge Francis Mathew, came after a jury in Santa Fe found Meta to have violated the state’s consumer protection laws over 43 million times.

The jury's verdict was based on allegations that Meta and its top executives made deceptive statements about the company's handling of hate speech and user data, which were widely viewed by Facebook users.

New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act allows for penalties of up to US$5,000 per violation, totaling the hefty fine. The trial, which lasted two weeks in the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico, focused on claims that Meta misled Facebook users about its privacy policies and data handling practices, particularly in the aftermath of the 2018 Cambridge Analytica leak.

The state's Attorney General, Raul Torrez, argued that Meta not only lied to users about its privacy policies but also failed to adequately address content moderation decisions and hate speech policies, citing evidence of unequal treatment between high-profile and regular accounts.

High-profile witnesses included Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, and former COO, Sheryl Sandberg. Despite Meta's history of settling cases related to the Cambridge Analytica leak, which saw the company pay US$5 billion to the Federal Trade Commission in 2019 and a US$725 million settlement in 2022, the New Mexico penalty stands out as particularly significant. In the past six months alone, Meta has paid US$459 million to resolve similar cases across 46 states and two territories.

However, New Mexico's decision to proceed independently, rather than joining state AG coalitions, has made this case especially costly for Meta. This landmark penalty arrives months after New Mexico became the first jurisdiction in the U.S. to secure a jury verdict against Meta, awarding US$375 million for claims that Facebook and Instagram negatively impact teen mental health and contribute to child sexual exploitation.

Following this, Meta was required to make an additional US$567 million to establish programs aimed at combating the youth mental health crisis.