A court in the US state of New Mexico has ordered Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to pay $25 billion in a landmark case involving allegations that the company misled consumers about data privacy and harmful content on its platforms.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez described the ruling as one of the largest, if not the largest, single-state verdict against the company in US history.
In his written order, Judge Francis Mathew said the alleged misconduct had continued for years and was closely linked to the company’s core business practices.
The judge determined that state law could justify a penalty exceeding $219 billion but reduced the final amount to $25 billion.
The ruling follows a broader legal settlement in August, under which Meta agreed to a multistate resolution worth $17.1 billion concerning claims that its platforms had harmed teenagers’ mental health. Six other states also settled their related lawsuits for a combined $459.2 million.
New Mexico’s attorney general filed the lawsuit against Meta in 2021 following revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, had obtained personal information from as many as 87 million Facebook users through a third-party application.
The state alleged that Meta misled users about who could access their personal information, how the company addressed hate speech and misinformation, and how its internal policies were implemented.
According to the state’s allegations, third parties were allowed extensive access to users’ data, while harmful content was allegedly tolerated when it served the company’s commercial interests.
Cambridge Analytica, which has since ceased operations, worked on Donald Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign. The firm obtained information from millions of Facebook accounts to develop voter profiles and target political messaging.
The data was reportedly collected without users’ consent through an application created by a researcher who had been permitted to operate on Facebook’s platform.
The case has renewed scrutiny of social media companies’ responsibility for protecting personal information, preventing the misuse of user data and addressing harmful content on their platforms.
