Meta faces $25bn penalty over data protection failures in New Mexico

A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in civil penalties for more than 43 million violations of the state’s unfair practices law. The ruling adds to the company’s legal setbacks and raises questions about corporate accountability for claims made about users’ data and online safety.

A jury found in September that Meta misled consumers about protecting their data and limiting misinformation and hate speech. The case followed revelations that Cambridge Analytica harvested data from millions of Facebook accounts to target political messages before Donald Trump’s first election; the judge set penalties at $5,000 per violation, then reduced the total from more than $219 billion to $25 billion. Meta says it will appeal, while New Mexico’s attorney general says the verdict establishes consequences for misleading consumers.