On Wednesday, October 21, New Mexico District Court Judge Francis Mathew ordered Meta to pay $25 billion. A jury found the tech giant responsible for more than 43 million violations of state consumer protection laws regarding user privacy and content moderation.
Cambridge Analytica Scandal
The legal action originates from the Cambridge Analytica controversy, where the political consulting firm gathered Facebook user information to build targeted political ads for the 2016 US presidential election. Jurors decided in September that Meta was liable for over 43 million breaches of New Mexico consumer protection statutes.
Evidence presented to jurors included 34 separate declarations made by Facebook concerning privacy and content moderation. State lawyers maintained that these deceptive statements impacted the entire population of New Mexico, even individuals who did not use Facebook. The jury concurred, determining 2.1 million breaches on specific counts, which pushed the overall total past 43 million. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez characterized the decision as one of the largest state verdicts against any corporation in American history.
Meta Plans to Appeal
Meta stated it will appeal the $25 billion decision. Legal representatives for the firm contended that New Mexico consumer protection statutes ought not to apply to individuals who were not Facebook users when the violations supposedly happened. The corporation contested state allegations regarding privacy procedures and defended updates implemented on the platform after the filing of the lawsuit in 2021. While 48 other US states settled nationally with Facebook, New Mexico kept pursuing its litigation separately.
Facebook Defends Content Policies
State prosecutors during the court proceedings accused Facebook of permitting harmful and deceptive material to spread while granting preferential treatment to specific accounts. Yet, the jury determined the state failed to demonstrate that Facebook uttered false statements about eliminating dangerous material, such as misinformation concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. In a video deposition, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg rejected claims that Facebook made money from harmful material, stating the platform must balance freedom of expression with content moderation. Attorneys for Facebook additionally asserted the platform upgraded rules and currently removes 99% of material breaking its standards.
$25 Billion for Education
Collected funds from the $25 billion fine are anticipated to fund education spending inside New Mexico. Still, the planned appeal by Meta might postpone payment and alter the final judgment. Legal specialists informing Reuters suggested Meta might possess valid grounds to contest the penalty magnitude, specifically how violations were calculated for residents who might not have viewed statements from Facebook. The decision represents one of the largest financial sanctions levied against Meta for user privacy management, though the figure is still open to appeal.
