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Meta Fined $25 Billion for Facebook Data Lies
22 Oct
Summary
- Meta found guilty of lying to New Mexico users about data access.
- Judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion, a record fine for the tech giant.
- New Mexico Attorney General highlighted the verdict as a historic state ruling.
A jury's decision has found Meta guilty of deceiving Facebook users in New Mexico about their data privacy. A United States judge subsequently ordered Meta to pay a staggering $25 billion fine, setting a new record for penalties against the tech titan.
State District Judge Francis Mathew announced the ruling, stating that Facebook's promise of user data control was false. The jury's finding of over 43 million violations of New Mexico's consumer protection laws prompted Attorney General Raul Torrez to declare it one of the largest state verdicts in US history.
Meta plans to appeal, with its chief legal officer expressing confidence in overturning the verdict. The company argues the lawsuit imposes an unfair tax on speech and hinders business operations in the state. The lawsuit, initiated in 2021, drew attention partly due to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where user data was improperly accessed for political advertising.
This legal defeat follows a previous setback for Meta in New Mexico, where it was ordered to pay substantial penalties and fund for teen mental health in March. The $25 billion award now designated for New Mexico's education system far surpasses previous federal fines levied against the company.
