Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, has been ordered to pay $25 billion to the US state of New Mexico after a jury found that the technology giant misled consumers about how it handled personal data and addressed harmful content on its platform. The ruling, delivered by a New Mexico judge on October 21, marks a major development in the long-running debate over digital privacy and the accountability of social media companies.
The case stems from allegations linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which raised global concerns about how Facebook users’ personal information could be accessed and used without their consent. New Mexico authorities accused Meta of misleading residents about its data privacy practices and the risks associated with its platform.
The company has disputed the allegations and plans to appeal the ruling, setting the stage for a potentially lengthy legal battle.
The latest penalty follows a jury verdict delivered in September. Jurors found that 26 of 29 statements made by Meta and its leadership about data privacy, content moderation and related policies were misleading.
Based on the potential audience for those statements, the jury determined that the company had committed more than 43 million violations of New Mexico’s consumer protection laws.
State law permits penalties of up to $5,000 for each violation. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the money would go to the state’s school system.
The scale of the potential liability was considerably higher than the amount ultimately imposed. Judge Francis Mathew indicated that the calculations under state law could support a penalty exceeding $219 billion but reduced the final amount to $25 billion.
The state had sought between $35 billion and $40 billion. Meta, meanwhile, argued that the penalty should be capped at $3.45 billion, warning that an excessive financial award could discourage businesses from operating in the state.
In his order, Mathew criticised the company’s conduct, saying its alleged wrongdoing over several years went to the heart of Facebook’s business practices.
The lawsuit was filed in 2021 after revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm involved in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, had obtained personal information from millions of Facebook users through a third-party application.
The data was reportedly harvested from as many as 87 million users. The episode triggered widespread scrutiny of Facebook’s privacy protections and the ability of outside developers to access information belonging to people using the platform.
New Mexico alleged that Meta misrepresented who could access users’ personal information and how the company dealt with hate speech, misinformation and other harmful content. The state argued that the company’s public assurances did not adequately reflect the risks associated with its services.
Meta rejected the state’s claims. In court filings, the company argued that it does not sell users’ personal data and that New Mexico had not demonstrated that consumers were actually misled. It also maintained that the case raised concerns about the company’s ability to manage its platforms and protect its rights to free expression.
The jury’s findings, however, focused on whether the company’s statements violated the state’s consumer protection laws.
The latest ruling adds to Meta’s growing legal challenges in the United States, particularly over user privacy, online safety and the impact of its platforms on young people.
In a separate New Mexico case concluded in March, a jury found that Meta had violated state law in a lawsuit concerning child safety and alleged sexual exploitation on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The jury ordered the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties.
In a subsequent phase of that case, a judge directed Meta to pay an additional $567 million into a fund for teen mental health and ordered measures to improve protections for teenage Facebook and Instagram users in the state.
These proceedings are separate from the Cambridge Analytica-related privacy case, although both reflect growing scrutiny of how social media platforms operate and the safeguards they provide.
The company has challenged the earlier verdict as well, underlining the likelihood of continued legal disputes over the scope of its responsibilities.
Meta is expected to contest the $25 billion penalty through the appeals process. The company has argued that the amount sought by the state was disproportionate to the conduct examined during the trial.
Legal experts have noted that the size of a penalty alone does not automatically determine whether it will be overturned. The outcome will depend on the legal arguments, the applicable state law and how the courts assess the verdict and the amount awarded.
The financial implications will also be closely watched. Although the penalty is substantial, analysts have suggested that it may not fundamentally alter the company’s overall valuation, given Meta’s size and revenue-generating capacity.
The ruling nevertheless sends a strong signal about the legal and financial risks technology companies can face when courts find that their public statements about privacy and consumer protection violate the law.
The case brings a familiar concern back into focus: how much control they have over their personal information once it enters a social media platform. For regulators, it highlights the challenge of enforcing consumer protection rules against companies that operate at global scale.
Meta’s appeal could take considerable time, but the New Mexico decision is likely to remain an important reference point in the wider debate over data privacy, corporate accountability and the regulation of major technology platforms.