Jury orders Meta to pay $25 billion in New Mexico consumer protection case
The verdict is the largest penalty Meta has faced and follows the state's decision to stay out of a broader multistate settlement.
A New Mexico jury has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after finding it liable for nearly 44 million violations of the state's consumer protection statutes. The penalty is the largest Meta has faced and came after state Attorney General Raúl Torrez stayed out of an $18 billion settlement that Meta struck earlier this year with attorneys general in almost every other state. In his ruling, Judge Francis J. Mathew said no fixed formula exists for setting a penalty for Meta's long-running, deliberate deception of users about data control, misuse by third parties, misinformation, hate speech and uneven enforcement dating back to 2010.
Why it matters
The ruling shows a single state can reach a penalty far larger than a settlement negotiated with most other states. It also signals that courts may treat long-running deception of users as a serious, deliberate harm, and the judge's remark that no bright line governs such penalties leaves open how future cases will be measured.
Series Meta New Mexico $25 billion penalty
- Jury orders Meta to pay $25 billion in New Mexico consumer protection case
- Judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion in New Mexico penalties over data and misinformation claims
- Judge orders Meta to pay New Mexico $25 billion over consumer protection violations
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