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A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company liable for more than 43 million violations of the state’s unfair practices law. Meta says it is confident it will prevail on appeal; the order also sets 15% annual interest until the penalty is paid.
A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in civil penalties on Wednesday after a jury found the company liable for more than 43 million violations of the state’s unfair practices law in a case tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Meta said it plans to appeal, leaving the final amount and timing of any payment subject to further court proceedings.
The jury found in September that Meta misled New Mexico residents about how it collected and protected user data and how it prevented harmful information from spreading on its services. The jury counted more than 43 million violations, each of which could carry a civil penalty of up to $5,000. The judge, rather than the jury, determined the amount to impose.
A Wednesday court filing said the state had been awarded $219.5 billion, but the judge reduced the penalty to $25 billion. District Court Judge Francis Mathew wrote that the jury’s findings, the duration and repetition of the conduct, the number of New Mexico users reached, and what he described as senior leadership’s involvement supported the maximum $5,000 penalty per violation. The order also sets 15% annual interest until the penalty is paid in full.
Meta’s chief legal officer, C.J. Mahoney, criticized the ruling and said the company was confident it would prevail on appeal. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez welcomed the order, saying it showed that violations by powerful technology companies could carry consequences. The company has not, in the supplied report, specified the grounds or schedule for its appeal.
A Record-Scale State Penalty
The $25 billion order creates a major financial and legal challenge for Meta, but it is not yet a final payment outcome: the company has said it will appeal, and the order’s enforcement may be affected by further proceedings. The court’s interest provision could add substantially to the amount if the penalty remains in place and is unpaid over time.
The ruling also matters beyond the size of the award. It follows a jury finding that Meta’s conduct violated a state consumer-protection law across millions of instances. If upheld, the case could shape how states pursue penalties over companies’ statements and practices concerning user privacy. Meta disputes the ruling and argues the state’s approach would affect online speech, so the legal dispute also concerns the boundaries of state enforcement against platform companies.
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How the Cambridge Analytica Case Reached Trial
The New Mexico lawsuit was filed in 2021 by then-Attorney General Hector Balderas. It grew out of the Cambridge Analytica revelations, which became public in 2018 and involved allegations that the political consulting firm improperly accessed information from 87 million Facebook users. The scandal drew scrutiny to Facebook’s data practices while the company was still operating under that name.
Meta had resolved other lawsuits arising from the scandal, including a $725 million class-action settlement in 2022. New Mexico was not part of a separate, nearly $17 billion multistate settlement described in the report, so its case went to trial in September. In the court filing, Mathew said Facebook had not conducted the comprehensive investigation it had promised after the Cambridge Analytica disclosures, and characterized its internal examination as “willfully ineffective.” Those are the judge’s findings in the case, not a separate verdict on other matters.
The privacy case follows other New Mexico litigation against Meta. A jury ruled in March that the company should pay $375 million in a child-safety case, and a judge later ordered $567 million for an abatement fund in a second phase addressing public nuisance. Meta said it disagreed with that ruling and planned to appeal. Those amounts arise from separate proceedings and are not part of the $25 billion privacy penalty.
“The extraordinary number of willful violations found by the jury, the duration and repetition of the conduct, the breadth of subjects on which violations occurred, the involvement of senior Facebook leadership, the size of New Mexico audiences reached, and the clear intentional and systematic nature of Facebook’s repeated misstatements established in the trial record support the highest level of penalty allowed by the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act — $5,000 per violation found by the jury.”
— New Mexico District Court Judge Francis Mathew
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Appeal Could Change the Outcome
The order does not resolve whether Meta will ultimately have to pay $25 billion. The company says it will appeal, but the supplied report does not specify when it will file, which arguments it will raise, or when an appeals court might rule. It is also unclear whether the penalty will be stayed while the appeal proceeds or how interest would be treated during that period.
The filing describes a $219.5 billion award before reduction to $25 billion, but the report does not provide a detailed calculation explaining that figure or the judge’s full reasoning for the reduction. The jury’s liability findings and the judge’s penalty order are reported; the outcome of any appeal remains unresolved.
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Meta’s Appeal Is the Next Test
The next major development is expected to be Meta’s appeal of the New Mexico order. The company has publicly said it expects to prevail, while the state has defended the penalty. The appeal process will determine whether the $25 billion amount stands, is reduced, or is otherwise changed; the timetable is not given in the report.
Until the court process advances, the penalty should be understood as an order under challenge, not a payment already made. Further filings or decisions may clarify the appeal schedule, whether enforcement is paused, and how the 15% annual interest provision applies while the dispute continues.
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Key Questions
Why was Meta ordered to pay $25 billion?
A New Mexico jury found Meta liable for more than 43 million violations of the state’s unfair practices law, involving claims that it misled residents about data collection, privacy safeguards, and harmful content. The judge set the penalty after the jury’s liability findings.
Has Meta paid the penalty?
The report does not say that Meta has paid. The company says it will appeal, so the $25 billion order is being challenged and the final payment outcome is unresolved.
Why was the amount reduced from $219.5 billion?
The court filing reported an award of $219.5 billion that the judge ultimately reduced to $25 billion. The supplied report does not explain the full calculation behind the original figure or provide detailed reasons for the reduction.
What is the link to Cambridge Analytica?
The New Mexico lawsuit grew out of the 2018 Cambridge Analytica revelations, which involved allegations that the consulting firm improperly accessed information from 87 million Facebook users. The state’s case focused on Meta’s representations and practices concerning user data.
What happens next?
Meta is expected to appeal. The timing, grounds, and effect of that appeal—including whether the penalty can be collected while the case is pending—have not been specified in the report.
Source: hn
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