WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Meta Platforms Inc. (META) has been ordered to pay $25 billion after a New Mexico judge found the company had spent years misleading the public about how Facebook handled and shared user data.
Judge Francis Mathew imposed the penalty following a two-week trial in which a jury found Meta had violated state laws more than 40 million times. The case stemmed partly from the Cambridge Analytica scandal and statements by Meta executives claiming Facebook user data was not accessed or shared with third parties without permission.
The judge described Meta's violations and public misrepresentations as 'willful,' spanning more than 11 years from 2010 through 2021. While the calculated penalty based on the violations reached $219 billion, the court reduced it to $25 billion.
New Mexico had sought up to $40 billion, while Meta argued that a penalty exceeding $3.4 billion would be unconstitutional. Meta's head lawyer, CJ Mahoney, said the ruling made it 'all but impossible to do business' in New Mexico and confirmed that the company intends to appeal.
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