Meta · Engadget
Meta ordered to cough up $25 billion in New Mexico privacy case
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The case stemmed from the nearly decade-old Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Key facts
- At up to $5,000 for each violation, the maximum penalty came to about $219 billion
- The state asked for $35 billion to $40 billion, with New Mexico attorney Randi McGinn saying the court "should speak to Meta in the only language it understands, which is money, and the value
- On Wednesday, a New Mexico judge ordered the company to pay the state $25 billion in penalties, having found that the company made misleading statements about the privacy of consumers in the state
- That included nearly $459 million specifically for Cambridge Analytica data harvesting claims
Summary
If you thought Meta's self-inflicted blows from the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal were over, think again. The case, filed in 2021, wasn't directly about the data harvested by Cambridge Analytica. In September, a Santa Fe jury found that Meta violated New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act by misleading residents on those issues. The state asked for $35 billion to $40 billion, with New Mexico attorney Randi McGinn saying the court "should speak to Meta in the only language it understands, which is money, and the value of its stock price. Judge Francis Mathew ended up at $25 billion. This lawsuit is separate from one the company recently settled with nearly every other US state over child safety concerns.