A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after finding that the company repeatedly misled the public over how Facebook users’ data was handled.
The ruling followed a two-week trial centred on Meta’s conduct in connection with the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, according to the BBC.
Judge Francis Mathew found that the violations occurred over more than 11 years, from 2010 to 2021, and were willful.
“The lies extend beyond Facebook’s data practices and go to the heart of Facebook’s core business practices,” Mathew said.
The case focused on claims by New Mexico lawyers that Meta executives had assured the public that Facebook user information would not be shared with third parties without permission.
State lawyers said Meta violated New Mexico laws more than 40 million times, affecting about two million people in the state.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal involved the collection of data belonging to millions of Facebook users for political consulting. The controversy was linked to political work surrounding the 2016 United States presidential election, which Donald Trump won.
Mathew also found that communications involving senior Meta executives, including founder Mark Zuckerberg, were designed to mislead the public.
The judge calculated that the violations could have resulted in penalties totalling $219 billion but reduced the amount to $25 billion.
New Mexico had sought penalties of up to $40 billion. Meta, however, argued that a fine exceeding $3.4 billion would be unconstitutional.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said the judgment demonstrated that major technology companies remained subject to the law regardless of their size or influence.
“For too long, powerful technology companies have operated as though their size and influence put them beyond the reach of the law,” Torrez said.
“Today’s result makes clear that no corporation is too powerful to be held accountable.”
Meta plans to challenge the ruling.
The company’s head lawyer, CJ Mahoney, said the decision would make it almost impossible for Meta to conduct business in New Mexico and confirmed that the company intended to appeal.
The $25 billion judgment comes after several other major penalties and settlements involving Meta.
In 2019, the United States Federal Trade Commission imposed a $5 billion penalty on the company over privacy violations.
Meta also reached an $18 billion settlement with California over child-safety issues in 2026 and was fined almost $1 billion by New Mexico this year over allegations that it misled the public about the safety of its platforms for children.
Despite the mounting financial penalties, Meta continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Its AI tool, Muse, is already being used by 10 million people.
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