Meta ordered to pay $25 billion in New Mexico Cambridge Analytica privacy case
A New Mexico judge cut the state's original $220 billion award to $25 billion, with 15% annual interest until the fine is paid. Meta says it will appeal.
Meta must pay $25 billion in civil penalties over data privacy violations tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to a New Mexico court filing released Wednesday.
In September, a jury found that Meta had broken the state's unfair practices law 43 million times, with each violation carrying civil penalties of as much as $5,000. The state was initially awarded $220 billion, but state District Court Judge Francis Mathew reduced the figure to $25 billion. Meta will be charged 15% annual interest until the fine is paid.
The case concerns Facebook, which shared as many as 87 million users' data with Cambridge Analytica, the British political consulting firm that used it to build psychological profiles of voters for targeted advertising, including in the 2016 presidential election.
New Mexico's litigation focused on what Facebook told consumers about its data practices and how it fights misinformation and hate speech after the scandal became public, according to Attorney General Raúl Torrez's office. Mathew cited what he described as substantial aggravating circumstances, including the scale and duration of the violations and evidence about Facebook's internal knowledge. The filing says senior leadership, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and then-COO Sheryl Sandberg, coordinated a public relations response, and that Facebook kept making public promises it could not keep. It also says the company's promised investigation into the incident was "willfully ineffective."
Meta Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney said the ruling and the state's enforcement approach "makes it all but impossible to do business in the state of New Mexico," adding that the lawsuit "seeks to impose a tax on speech." Meta plans to appeal.
The ruling adds to Meta's existing costs from the scandal, including a 2022 class action settlement of $725 million.
Sources
- Meta on the spot for $25 billion under New Mexico privacy rulingPrimarytherecord.media
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