New Mexico wants Meta to pay up to $40 billion in penalties after data privacy trial
META•New Mexico asked a judge to order Meta to pay $35 billion to $40 billion after a jury found more than 43 million consumer-law violations. Meta urged the judge to cap penalties at $3.45 billion; a ruling is expected later this month.
1. Penalty dispute
New Mexico asked a judge to impose $35 billion to $40 billion in penalties on Meta after a jury found the company had made misleading statements about Facebook users’ data privacy. The jury found more than 43 million violations of the state’s consumer protection laws.
2. Judge to set amount
State law allows a penalty of up to $5,000 per violation. New Mexico’s lawyer said the full amount would be too large under constitutional due-process protections, but argued for a significant payment. Meta called the state’s request an “astronomical penalty” and urged the judge to cap penalties at $3.45 billion. The judge said he expected to rule later this month.
3. Jury findings
The jury found 26 of 29 statements by Meta and its leadership misleading. The lawsuit followed revelations that Cambridge Analytica harvested data from as many as 87 million Facebook users through a third-party app without their consent.
