A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found that Facebook deceived users about how their data was handled, marking a record penalty against the tech giant. The judge described the deception as intentional, with executives repeatedly misrepresenting users’ control over their information.
The case stems from the Cambridge Analytica affair, in which data from about 87 million Facebook profiles were harvested through a personality quiz app and used to target political advertising during the 2016 US election. Jurors concluded more than 43 million consumer-protection violations, with up to $5,000 fine per violation for some counts.
Meta’s legal team contends the decision should not stand and argues the amount is unconstitutional and that the state must prove residents actually saw the misleading statements or suffered harm. The company has signalled its intent to appeal. The ruling follows Meta’s 2022 settlement of $725 million in a class action over Cambridge Analytica data sharing, and the 2019 Federal Trade Commission fine of $5 billion.
Meta emphasises that its business in New Mexico remains heavily constrained by the enforcement approach, and the company notes that the penalty could be trimmed on appeal if the court revises the number of violations or other elements. The case underscores ongoing scrutiny of privacy promises, with the size of the fine reflecting a broader push to hold tech firms accountable for how they describe data use to users.