TL;DR
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A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company liable for more than 43 million violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act. Meta disputes the ruling and says it expects to prevail on appeal; the order also sets annual interest at 15% until the penalty is paid.
A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in civil penalties Wednesday, after a jury found the company liable for more than 43 million violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act in a case tied to Facebook’s handling of user data and the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Meta’s chief legal officer criticized the penalty and said the company is confident it will prevail on appeal.
The order followed a September jury verdict in Santa Fe. Jurors found Meta liable for misleading New Mexico residents about how it collected and safeguarded user data and how it prevented harmful information from spreading on its services. The jury counted more than 43 million violations; state law permits a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation, but the judge determined the final amount.
A court filing said the state was awarded $219.5 billion before the penalty was reduced to $25 billion. District Court Judge Francis Mathew wrote that the number of violations, their duration and repetition, the range of subjects involved, senior Facebook leadership’s involvement, and the size of the affected New Mexico audience supported the highest statutory penalty per violation. The order also says interest will accrue at 15% a year until the fine is paid in full.
Mathew’s filing also faulted Facebook’s response to the Cambridge Analytica revelations, saying the company “did not conduct the comprehensive investigation that it promised.” The judge described the internal review as “willfully ineffective,” citing factors including pressure to keep costs down, insufficient enforcement resources and inadequate investigative methods. Those descriptions are the judge’s findings in the filing; Meta disputes the outcome.
A Major State Privacy Penalty
The order puts a $25 billion financial penalty at the center of a state consumer-protection case against one of the world’s largest technology companies. The final sum is far below the $219.5 billion award reported in the filing, but remains an exceptionally large judgment against Meta. The annual interest provision means the amount due could grow while the order remains unpaid, subject to further court proceedings.
The case also shows how a state can pursue alleged privacy and consumer-protection violations tied to conduct that drew national attention. A jury found Meta liable under New Mexico law, and the judge set the civil penalty using the number of violations and circumstances described in the trial record. The eventual appeal could affect whether the judgment stands, changes or is overturned.
For residents, the case concerns claims that Facebook misrepresented its data practices and safeguards. The order does not, by itself, establish what individual users will receive or set out a direct payment to them. It is a civil penalty awarded to the state under its unfair-practices law.
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From Cambridge Analytica to Trial
The case traces back to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which came to public attention in 2018. The political consulting firm was accused of improperly accessing information associated with 87 million Facebook users, prompting scrutiny of Facebook’s data practices and the company’s handling of the incident. The New Mexico case focused on the company’s representations and conduct, as described in the jury’s verdict and the judge’s penalty order.
Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas filed the state’s lawsuit in 2021. The case proceeded to trial after New Mexico was not included in a separate, nationwide settlement reported at nearly $17 billion in August. That settlement concerned a separate federal case involving a coalition of state attorneys general and child safety and mental health issues; it did not resolve New Mexico’s Cambridge Analytica-related claims.
Meta also agreed in 2022 to pay $725 million to settle a class-action lawsuit arising from the Cambridge Analytica scandal. That settlement was separate from this state case. New Mexico has brought other claims against Meta as well: a March jury ruling in a child-safety case ordered the company to pay $375 million, and a judge later ordered $567 million for an abatement fund in a separate phase. Meta said it disagreed with that ruling and planned to appeal.
“The extraordinary number of willful violations found by the jury, the duration and repetition of the conduct, the breadth of subjects on which violations occurred, the involvement of senior Facebook leadership, the size of New Mexico audiences reached, and the clear intentional and systematic nature of Facebook’s repeated misstatements established in the trial record support the highest level of penalty allowed by the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act.”
— New Mexico District Court Judge Francis Mathew
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Appeal and Payment Remain Open
The penalty is subject to appeal, and Meta has said it expects to prevail. The source report does not specify when the company will file, what arguments it will raise, whether it must pay while the appeal proceeds, or how quickly an appellate court could act. The final amount Meta may ultimately owe therefore remains unresolved.
The filing states that the award was reduced from $219.5 billion to $25 billion, but the report does not provide a full account of the calculation behind that reduction. Nor does it describe any direct compensation for users. The order sets a state civil penalty; further court proceedings could clarify its enforcement and practical effects.
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Court Review Will Shape Enforcement
The immediate next step is Meta’s expected appeal of the penalty order. Any appeal could challenge the judge’s legal reasoning, the size of the award or both. The source material does not give a filing date or a schedule for further proceedings, so the timeline is not yet known.
Until the appeal process advances, the $25 billion order and its 15% annual interest provision remain the terms stated in the filing, though the amount ultimately payable could change through court action. The state and Meta have not, in the supplied reporting, described any resolution of the dispute after Wednesday’s order.
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Key Questions
Why was Meta ordered to pay $25 billion?
A New Mexico jury found Meta liable for more than 43 million violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act in a case about its data practices and representations to residents. The judge set the penalty at $25 billion after the filing reported a $219.5 billion award before reduction.
What did the jury find Meta liable for?
The jury found that Meta misled New Mexico residents about how it collected and safeguarded user data and how it prevented harmful information from flourishing on its services. The verdict was delivered in September, according to the report.
Is the $25 billion penalty final?
Not necessarily. Meta’s chief legal officer said the company is confident it will prevail on appeal. The supplied report does not state when an appeal will be filed or how the court process will affect payment.
Will Facebook users receive money from this order?
The order described in the report is a civil penalty awarded to New Mexico. The source does not say that users will receive individual payments.
How is this case connected to the Cambridge Analytica scandal?
The lawsuit arose from scrutiny of Facebook’s data practices after Cambridge Analytica was accused of improperly accessing information associated with 87 million users. New Mexico’s case proceeded separately from other settlements connected to the scandal.
Source: hn
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