New Mexico Judge Francis Mathew ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in penalties on Oct. 21, 2026, in a case stemming from the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal, CNBC reports. The order followed a September jury finding that Meta misled people about Facebook's privacy practices, according to The Associated Press, republished by the Economic Times.
The case grew out of accusations involving a third-party personality quiz that harvested data from roughly 87 million Facebook profiles and sold it to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, the AP reports. The jury found more than 43 million violations of New Mexico consumer protection laws. CNBC reports that the judge, not the jury, determined the penalty.
The AP reports that the jury's findings concerned privacy and content moderation, but jurors did not find the state had proved certain claims that Facebook falsely said it removed harmful content. Meta's lawyers argued that the state had not shown people were harmed and sought a penalty no greater than $3.4 billion. The AP also reports that Meta plans to appeal the jury's verdict, which could reduce the violation count and, in turn, the penalty.
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