Meta ordered to pay $25 billion to New Mexico over data privacy and Cambridge Analytica

Oct 21, 10:52 PM2 min readCovered by 4 outlets

Drafted by AI from the sources below, fact-checked by the Ajako Taja Editorial Team · How we use AI

AI Summary

A New Mexico judge hit Meta with a record $25 billion fine, ruling the social media giant lied to the public about data privacy and its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company deceived users about data privacy and content moderation following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Judge Francis Mathew issued the order on Wednesday, following a September jury verdict that found Facebook liable for more than 40 million violations of state consumer protection laws. According to Deutsche Welle, the judge stated that Facebook's promises regarding user control over personal data were false and went to the heart of the company's core business practices.

The fine is the largest ever against Meta, according to BBC News, though it falls short of the $35 billion to $40 billion originally sought by New Mexico prosecutors. New Mexico was the only state that refused to join a prior $18 billion settlement involving forty-eight other states, opting instead to pursue its own litigation regarding how the platform handled the data of its 2.1 million residents.

Meta's Chief Legal Officer, C.J. Mahoney, criticized the ruling, stating it makes doing business in New Mexico "all but impossible" and characterized the lawsuit as an attempt to impose a "tax on speech." While Meta has pledged to appeal the decision, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez described the verdict as an unambiguous message to Silicon Valley that no corporation is beyond the reach of the law.

The court also found that Meta's senior leadership, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg, were involved in a strategy to mislead the public. CBS News reported that under the New Mexico Constitution, the proceeds from such fines are designated for state education spending, which Torrez suggested could fund school construction for a century.

Background

The legal action originated from the 2016 Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which a third-party quiz harvested data from approximately 87 million Facebook profiles. This information was later sold to a UK-based political consulting firm to create targeted advertisements for Donald Trump's first presidential campaign.