Meta ordered to pay $25 billion in New Mexico privacy case

The nearly decade-old Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal, in which the consultancy collected Facebook user data for political advertising, has led to a $25 billion penalty against Meta. On Wednesday, New Mexico District Judge Francis Mathew ordered the company to pay the state that amount, finding that Meta made misleading statements about privacy to consumers in New Mexico. "It has been a long time coming holding Big Tech accountable," New Mexico's attorney general, Raúl Torrez, told reporters.

The case, filed in 2021, was not directly about the data Cambridge Analytica harvested. It focused on years of Facebook statements about privacy settings, user data and content moderation. In September, a Santa Fe jury ruled that Meta violated the state's Unfair Practices Act and said there were 43 million violations. Penalties of up to $5,000 per violation meant the possible maximum was about $219 billion.

New Mexico had asked the court to impose $35 billion to $40 billion. Attorney Randi McGinn argued the court "should speak to Meta in the only language it understands, which is money, and the value of its stock price." The company asked for no more than $3.45 billion. Judge Mathew set the amount at $25 billion, writing that Facebook's promised post-scandal investigation was "willfully ineffective" and that there was "the clear intentional and systematic nature of Facebook's repeated misstatements."

The current case is separate from child safety litigation Meta settled earlier this year with 47 other states plus D.C. That settlement included up to $17.1 billion in penalties and about $459 million specifically for Cambridge Analytica privacy claims, and required Meta to change its apps, especially for children. New Mexico skipped that settlement, allowing the trial to proceed.

This year brought New Mexico a second court win over Meta. In August, jurors awarded $567 million in damages after concluding the company enabled harm to young users, and a $375 million penalty came in March. Meta, valued at about $1.8 trillion, has said it will appeal. Chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney called the ruling "a tax on speech."

The penalty will fund New Mexico's schools, and 15 percent annual interest will accrue until Meta pays it in full.