Judge orders Meta to pay New Mexico $25 billion over consumer protection violations
Meta says it will appeal, and warns that the ruling makes doing business in New Mexico all but impossible.
A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion to the state after a two-week trial in which a jury found the company violated the state's consumer protection laws 43 million times, with each violation carrying a $5,000 penalty. The case centered partly on how Meta handled a third-party app tied to the Cambridge Analytica breach, and also on its data privacy policies and its handling of misinformation. State Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the sum could pay for schools for a century. Meta says it will appeal and warns that the ruling makes doing business in New Mexico extremely difficult.
Why it matters
The award follows a jury finding of 43 million violations of New Mexico's consumer protection laws, each carrying a $5,000 penalty, and it shows that a state can seek large penalties from a major platform over how user data and misinformation are handled. Part of the case concerned Meta's handling of a third-party app linked to the Cambridge Analytica breach, so the ruling ties that earlier scandal to a specific state's legal claims. Attorney General Raúl Torrez says the money could fund schools for a century, while Meta's appeal means the sum is not final.
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Sources
- TechCrunch