A New Mexico court has ordered Meta Platforms to pay a staggering $25 billion penalty in a landmark data privacy case stemming from the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The massive fine represents the largest penalty ever levied against the social media giant in connection with the decade-old data breach.
The penalty was revealed in a court filing following a trial in a Santa Fe courthouse. In September, a jury found Meta liable for misleading state residents about how it collects and safeguards user data, as well as how it prevents harmful content on its platforms. Judge Francis J. Matthew wrote in the judgment that Facebook’s promises giving users control over their data were false.
The Origins of the New Mexico Lawsuit
New Mexico’s attorney general originally filed the lawsuit against Meta in 2021. The legal action followed revelations that the now-defunct political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica harvested personal data from up to 87 million Facebook users through a third-party app without proper consent. The firm subsequently used the information for voter profiling and targeted political advertising during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.
While Meta previously resolved various Cambridge Analytica-derived privacy lawsuits across the United States—including an overarching August settlement of roughly $17.1 billion with a coalition of state attorneys general concerning teen mental health and safety—New Mexico and Florida chose not to sign that broader agreement. Consequently, New Mexico’s individual data privacy case proceeded to trial.
Court Findings and Penalty Calculations
During the trial, jurors assessed whether Facebook had misled users regarding privacy and content moderation. State prosecutors argued that Meta’s public statements deceived the entire population of New Mexico. Ultimately, the jury concluded that Meta had committed more than 43 million violations of the state’s unfair practices and consumer protection acts.
With each individual transgression carrying a civil penalty of up to $5,000, the state’s initial calculation in court filings reached a theoretical maximum of $219.5 billion before the presiding judge ultimately reduced the final fine to $25 billion. Meta had previously argued during legal proceedings that a penalty in the billions of dollars risked violating its constitutional rights to due process and protection from excessive fines.
The historic $25 billion fine dwarfs previous regulatory penalties against the company for the same breach, such as a $5 billion penalty issued by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in 2019. Representatives for Meta have been approached for comment regarding the latest court order.
