Meta Ordered to Pay New Mexico $25 Billion in Privacy Verdict

A judge ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $25 billion after a jury found the company liable for deceiving users about privacy and content moderation policies on Facebook. Judge Francis Mathew handed down the verdict on Wednesday.

State Attorney General Raúl Torrez called the award one of the largest, if not the single largest state verdict against a company in American history. He said the judgement should send an unambiguous message to Silicon Valley.

“This judgement should be a signal, an unambiguous message, to Silicon Valley.”

The jury found Meta liable for more than 43 million violations of New Mexico consumer protection laws. The case involved Cambridge Analytica harvesting Facebook user data to create targeted political ads for the 2016 election.

New Mexico sought $35 billion to $40 billion, while Meta argued it should pay no more than $3.4 billion. Meta said it plans to appeal the September verdict.

Torrez said the money will go into a state fund for education under the New Mexico Constitution. He acknowledged the funds could be tied up if Meta appeals as expected.

Meta representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the amount. The Menlo Park, California-based company's shares were trading 2% higher following the penalty announcement.