A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay a $25 billion penalty for data privacy violations in a case stemming from the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
01Summary
- 01The penalty was imposed by a New Mexico district court on Wednesday, following a jury verdict in September that found Meta liable for 43 million violations of the state's unfair practices act.
- 02Each violation could have incurred a civil penalty of up to $5,000, and the state was initially awarded $219.5 billion before the judge reduced the fine to $25 billion.
- 03Judge Francis Mathew wrote that the penalty reflects the willful and systematic nature of Facebook's repeated misstatements, and interest will accrue at 15% per year until the fine is paid.
- 04New Mexico's case proceeded to trial because it was not part of a separate $17 billion settlement Meta reached with a coalition of state attorneys general in August.
- 05Meta had previously settled a related class action lawsuit for $725 million in 2022, and the Cambridge Analytica scandal involved improper access to 87 million users' data.
02Why it matters
This ruling highlights the severe financial and legal consequences for tech companies that mishandle user data, affecting how Meta and other firms approach data privacy in the US.
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