Meta faces a massive financial penalty over its handling of user data and claims about content moderation. The ruling follows a jury finding that 26 of 29 statements examined during the trial were misleading or false. The company is expected to appeal.
BY PC Bureau
October 21: A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta Platforms to pay $25 billion in civil penalties after a jury found that the company committed nearly 43.9 million violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act.
The ruling, issued on October 21 by Judge Francis Mathew of the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, stems from allegations that Facebook misled users about data privacy, content moderation and its investigation into the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The judge calculated that penalties of $5,000 for each violation would amount to approximately $219.5 billion, but reduced the total to $25 billion. Interest will accrue at 15% annually until the amount is paid. The proceeds are earmarked for a fund supporting education in New Mexico.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez described the penalty as a strong warning to technology companies over deceptive business practices. Meta has disputed the findings and is expected to appeal.
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Cambridge Analytica scandal
The case traces back to 2014, when a personality-quiz app developed by researcher Aleksandr Kogan collected data from Facebook users. The app was installed by around 270,000 people, but Facebook’s then-permissive data-sharing system also enabled access to information belonging to their friends, many of whom had not consented.
The data, covering as many as 87 million users, was shared with Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that worked on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and other political campaigns.
The scandal became public in 2018, triggering international scrutiny of Facebook’s privacy practices. The company later paid a $5 billion penalty to the US Federal Trade Commission in 2019 and agreed to a $725 million settlement in a related class-action lawsuit in 2022.
Jury found repeated misleading statements by Meta
The New Mexico lawsuit was filed in 2021 by the state’s then-attorney general, Hector Balderas. His successor, Raúl Torrez, pursued the case through trial.
After a two-week trial in September 2026, jurors found that 26 of 29 statements examined in the case were misleading or false. The statements concerned user data protection, efforts to tackle hate speech and misinformation, enforcement of platform rules and Facebook’s promised investigation into Cambridge Analytica.
The jury concluded that the company had committed approximately 43.9 million willful violations of the state’s consumer-protection law.
Meta rejected the allegations, arguing that its statements had been taken out of context and defending its efforts to strengthen privacy safeguards and content moderation. The company also disputed the state’s method of counting violations and the scale of the potential penalties.
Judge cites scale of alleged misconduct
New Mexico sought between $35 billion and $40 billion in penalties, arguing that a substantial award was necessary to deter future violations. Meta had pushed for a significantly lower amount, raising constitutional objections to the proposed penalties.
In his October 21 order, Judge Mathew cited the scale and duration of the conduct, the reach of the platform and the repeated nature of the misleading statements. He said the wrongdoing went to the heart of Facebook’s business practices and criticised the company for failing to conduct the comprehensive investigation it had promised.
Although the judge reduced the theoretical maximum penalty substantially, the $25 billion award remains an extraordinary financial sanction against a technology company. Meta’s expected appeal could challenge both the calculation of violations and the constitutionality of the penalty.
Broader legal challenges
The ruling adds to Meta’s mounting legal exposure over privacy and platform safety. In separate litigation, New Mexico has also pursued claims concerning the impact of social media on children, securing a $375 million civil-penalty verdict in March 2026 and a subsequent $567 million abatement fund, according to reports. Meta has contested those proceedings as well.
The $25 billion order is distinct from settlements reached with other US states over social media safety and privacy claims.
If upheld, the ruling would represent a major test of state-level consumer-protection laws against large technology companies. It also underscores the continuing legal consequences of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, more than eight years after the revelations first triggered a global debate over online privacy and the use of personal data in political campaigns.
