Meta has been hit with a $25 billion penalty by a New Mexico court. A jury found the tech giant misled residents about data privacy, adding to the long-standing Cambridge Analytica scandal saga that first emerged almost a decade ago.
On Wednesday, court filings disclosed the penalty, reduced from an initial $219.5 billion award. The Santa Fe jury determined that Meta was responsible for over 43 million breaches of New Mexico's unfair practices act. Each breach could have incurred a $5,000 fine, but the judge set the final amount.
Judge Francis Mathew emphasized the severity of Meta's actions. He noted the volume of violations, their deliberate nature, and the involvement of senior executives. Interest on the fine will accrue at 15% annually until Meta pays.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal erupted in 2018, with claims that the political consulting firm improperly accessed data from 87 million Facebook users. This scandal intensified scrutiny of Facebook's data practices and sparked numerous legal battles.
Last year, Meta settled a class action lawsuit related to the scandal for $725 million. In August, the company agreed to nearly $17 billion in settlements with state attorneys general over various data privacy issues. However, New Mexico was not part of this settlement, prompting its separate legal action.
The current case was initiated by former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas in 2021. Current AG Raúl Torrez managed the trial. Torrez also led another case against Meta over child safety concerns, resulting in a $375 million jury verdict against the company. This led to a judge ordering Meta to pay $567 million into an abatement fund, calling the company's actions a public nuisance. Meta intends to appeal this ruling.
Judge Mathew criticized Facebook's response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. He said the company failed to fulfill its promise of a thorough investigation. The judge cited executive pressure to cut costs, insufficient enforcement resources, and inadequate investigative methods.
Meta has not yet commented on the New Mexico penalty. The situation underscores the company's ongoing challenges under Mark Zuckerberg's leadership, as it continues to grapple with the Cambridge Analytica scandal's aftermath and broader data privacy and user protection issues.
