A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay 25 billion in penalties after ruling that the social media giant misled consumers about the privacy of their data. The decision ties to more than 43 million alleged violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act, linked to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal that came to light in 2018. The judge, Francis J. Mathew, criticised Meta for promoting the idea that users controlled their own data, calling that assurance misleading.
The case traces back to the collection of data from millions of Facebook users via the “thisisyourdigitallife” personality quiz app, which also harvested information from users’ friends, forming a dataset of tens of millions of profiles.
The amount awarded is framed as penalties for the alleged deceptive practices around user privacy. The article notes Cambridge Analytica’s involvement in the 2016 US presidential campaign and mentions prior settlements and fines, including Meta’s 2019 FTC Record fine in the United States and a 2022 class action settlement. Meta’s chief legal officer, C.J. Mahoney, signalled that the company intends to appeal the decision.
The article also references a broader pattern of settlements and child-safety measures in other jurisdictions, but it emphasises that New Mexico’s ruling stands on its own for these privacy claims. No additional technical exploits or CVE details are cited in the provided material.