Meta Platforms has been ordered by a New Mexico judge to pay $25 billion in civil penalties after a jury concluded the tech giant systematically deceived users regarding data privacy in a case originating from the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign.
In an order issued Wednesday following the jury's verdict, Judge Francis Mathew emphasized the severity of the tech giant's actions, writing that the platform's wrongdoing over the course of years and systematically broadcast to the public goes to the heart of its core business practices. Judge Mathew noted that state law supported a statutory penalty exceeding $219 billion, but he exercised judicial discretion to lower the financial judgment to $25 billion. Meta did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment regarding the ruling.
The legal action was launched in 2021 by New Mexico's attorney general after disclosures revealed that British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested personal data from as many as 87 million Facebook users via a third-party app without consent. State prosecutors argued that Meta lied to Facebook users in New Mexico concerning third-party data access, its handling of misinformation, and its policing of hate speech. According to state officials, the company was aware that outside entities possessed broad access to user data and tolerated harmful content when it protected corporate revenues.
On September 25, jurors determined that 26 out of 29 statements issued by Meta and its executives were misleading. The panel determined that Meta committed more than 43 million individual violations of New Mexico’s consumer protection statutes, calculating the figure based on the number of local residents and platform users who were exposed to each misleading statement.
Under New Mexico law, statutory violations carry fines up to $5,000 each, with state Attorney General Raúl Torrez confirming to reporters following the verdict that all recovered funds will be funneled directly into the state school system. During an October 1 hearing, Randi McGinn, a legal representative for New Mexico, urged Judge Mathew to impose a penalty between $35 billion and $40 billion based on constitutional due process principles and the jury's findings, arguing the court should address Meta in the only language it understands, which is money and stock value.
In court filings, Meta urged Judge Mathew to restrict penalties to a maximum of $3.45 billion, claiming that excessive fines threatened to deter business investments across the state. The company insisted that evidence demonstrated it does not sell personal user data and contended that the state failed to prove any individual consumer had suffered actual harm from being misled.
Wednesday's decision represents the second major legal loss for Meta before a Santa Fe jury within six months in litigation brought by the state of New Mexico. In a trial concluding in March, a Santa Fe jury found Meta misled the public regarding youth safety on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, assessing $375 million in civil penalties. A second phase of that proceeding resulted in a judicial directive requiring Meta to contribute $567 million toward a New Mexico fund for teen mental health while implementing specific protective measures for underage Facebook and Instagram users statewide.
