A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion for violating the state's Unfair Practices Act by misleading users about its data handling, in a case tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal that began in 2021. The penalty follows a jury verdict in Meta's favor for the state in September, and Meta says it will appeal. The company's chief legal officer called the ruling an effective tax on speech that would make doing business in New Mexico unworkable.
wired.com
· 2026-10-23
A New Mexico judge imposed a $25 billion civil penalty on Meta after a jury found the company committed nearly 44 million violations of the state's Unfair Practices Act. The case stemmed from Meta misleading users about data privacy practices connected to the Cambridge Analytica scandal tied to the 2016 presidential election. Meta had sought to cap penalties at $3.45 billion but failed, though the final sum is far below the $219 billion some estimates had floated.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-22
A jury found Meta liable for nearly 44 million violations of New Mexico's consumer protection law, and US District Judge Francis J. Mathew imposed a $25 billion penalty, the largest ever levied against the company. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez had rejected an $18 billion multistate settlement Meta reached with other states earlier this year and pursued the case separately, seeking up to $40 billion. Mathew's ruling cites trial evidence that Meta's leadership, including Mark Zuckerberg, knew the company was misleading the public about data control, misinformation and other practices since 2010.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-22
A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion for deceiving users about data privacy practices tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, one of the largest penalties ever imposed on a tech company. The ruling follows a Santa Fe jury finding that Meta committed 43 million violations of state consumer protection law, each carrying a penalty of up to $5,000. State Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the outcome shows no corporation is too powerful to face accountability.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-10-22
A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company committed 43 million violations of the state's consumer protection laws, each carrying a $5,000 penalty. The case centered on Meta's handling of the third-party app tied to the Cambridge Analytica data breach, along with its broader data privacy practices and misinformation policies. Meta says it will appeal the ruling.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-21
A Santa Fe district court judge reduced a potential $219.5 billion jury-calculated fine to a $25 billion penalty against Meta, following a September jury verdict finding the company liable for misleading New Mexico residents about its data collection and safeguarding practices. The jury found more than 43 million violations of the state's unfair practices act, and the judge set the penalty at the maximum $5,000 per violation, with 15% annual interest until paid in full.
cnbc.com
· 2026-10-21
A New Mexico judge ruled that Meta must pay $25 billion in civil penalties after a jury found more than 43 million violations of the state's unfair practices law tied to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. The judge calculated the maximum penalty of $5,000 per violation, totaling over $219 billion, before reducing it to $25 billion. Meta's chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney said the company plans to appeal, calling the ruling an attempt to tax speech.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-21
After a jury found Meta misled Facebook users about data privacy in connection with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, New Mexico's attorneys asked Judge Francis Mathew to impose penalties of $35 billion to $40 billion. The request follows a September 25 verdict in Santa Fe; Meta's lawyers argued the state's proposed sum is unconstitutional and urged a cap of $3.45 billion instead.
yro.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-03
Following a late-September jury verdict finding Meta violated New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act with misleading privacy statements tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, state attorneys have asked a judge to impose penalties of $35 billion to $40 billion. The jury found 26 of 29 examined Meta statements misleading, translating into roughly 43 million consumer-law violations based on the New Mexico Facebook users who saw them. Meta is urging the court to cap penalties at $3.45 billion, arguing no residents were shown to have actually been misled, with a ruling expected later this month.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-02
A jury in New Mexico ruled that Meta violated the state's Unfair Practices Act, finding 26 of 29 examined statements about user data protections were misleading, amounting to more than 43 million violations based on affected users. The case, brought by the state attorney general in 2021, also concerned Meta's response to the 2013 Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which data from tens of millions of Facebook users was harvested via a personality-quiz app and used for targeted political ads in 2016.
tech.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-26
A jury in Santa Fe ruled Facebook deceived users about privacy protections after a third-party quiz harvested data from roughly 87 million profiles and sold it to Cambridge Analytica. Jurors also found Facebook misled the public about subsequent investigations into data brokers, tallying more than 2 million violations affecting New Mexico's population. A judge will now decide penalties, with state attorneys seeking the maximum $5,000 per violation.
cbsnews.com
· 2026-09-26
A New Mexico jury ruled that Meta violated the state's Unfair Practices Act, finding it misled residents about privacy protections and how it handled misinformation. The case stemmed from a 2021 lawsuit tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which Facebook user data was harvested and used for political ad targeting during the 2016 election. A judge has not yet determined the penalty Meta will face.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-25
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