Overview
- A Santa Fe judge on Wednesday set a $25 billion civil penalty after a September jury found Meta made 26 misleading statements and committed roughly 43.9 million violations of New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act.
- The judge calculated a statutory maximum of about $219 billion based on up to $5,000 per violation before reducing the award to $25 billion and reserving decisions on any business‑practice orders.
- New Mexico brought the 2021 suit over the Cambridge Analytica data harvest that disclosed up to 87 million Facebook profiles were accessed without users’ informed consent.
- Meta says it will appeal, arguing the state did not prove consumers were harmed and warning the enforcement approach improperly pressures speech and business activity in the state.
- The case adds to earlier New Mexico verdicts this year on teen safety and follows an August multistate settlement that New Mexico did not join, and any payment is likely to be stayed while appeals proceed.