Posted on 10/21/2026 1:07:08 PM PDT by DFG
Meta was ordered to pay $25 billion in penalties by a New Mexico court on Wednesday as part of a data privacy case that stemmed from the company’s Cambridge Analytica scandal from nearly a decade ago.
The penalty, revealed in a court filing, comes after a jury in a Santa Fe courthouse found in September the social media giant liable for misleading state citizens about how it safeguards and collects user data and prevents harmful information from flourishing on its services.
Although the jury concluded that Meta had more than 43 million violations of the state’s unfair practices act, with each transgression carrying a civil penalty as high as $5,000, a New Mexico judge was responsible for determining the ultimate fine. The Wednesday filing showed that the state was awarded $219.5 billion, but the penalty was ultimately reduced to $25 billion.
“The extraordinary number of willful violations found by the jury, the duration and repetition of the conduct, the breadth of subjects on which violations occurred, the involvement of senior Facebook leadership, the size of New Mexico audiences reached, and the clear intentional and systematic nature of Facebook’s repeated misstatements established in the trial record support the highest level of penalty allowed by the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act - $5,000 per violation found by the jury,” New Mexico District Court Judge Francis Mathew wrote in the filing.
The judge added that interest on the penalty shall accrue at the rate of 15% each year until the fine is paid off in full.
“For too long, powerful technology companies have operated as though their size and influence put them beyond the reach of the law,” said New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez in a statement.
He added that “this penalty order demonstrates that those violations carry real consequences.”
Meta chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney criticized the penalty, saying in a statement that the company is “confident” that it will “prevail on appeal.”
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What??? My personal data isn’t held in sacred trust by the ZuckerBorg?
I’m shocked, shocked I tell you!
Good. It’s far past time to pull up the reins on many of the advanced technology firms expanding faster than the ability to regulate and police them develops.
It’s the same set of general circumstances that powered the Gilded Age, which was deconstructed by the Progressive movement headed by Teddy Roosevelt. That’s when the “Trust-Busters” were able to rebalance the scales.
The question is, who gets the money? I doubt individuals effected will ever see a penny. The money will go to build more Learning Centers.
Looks like a lot of lawyers will be retiring and as usual the people get effed!
The money will probably go to increase pay and pensions for state government employees.
$25 billion here, $25 billion there. Pretty soon you’re talking about real tech money.
META stock was up 0.47% today, and is up almost 3% after hours. Apparently this news was either priced in, or is better than expected.
I am sure New Mexico’s bureaucrats will be sending checks out to New Mexican tax payers.
More likely investors ignored it as a ruling from a backwater grifter state which will be told to FO as soon as the case is appealed outside of said backwater. I hear Elon once spit on the sidewalk in Albuquerque. I bet they could find a jury and judge to fine him eleventy gazillion dollars.
An abusive award by the State !
Good grief.
Louisiana needs to implement one of these cases.
If Skunk Cabbage had won in 2016, there would have been no lawsuit.
You misspelled Learing. /s
Effective stock-split 2 for 1 in Jan.
Just announced.
So a very blue state levies a fine that just so happens to offset the state debt of $18billion with a nice chunk left over
Studies have proven that stock splits don’t create value.
Well put.
Right, they ease entry
True. I regard the golden age of AI different from a 50yr lookback.
NVIDIA split then more than doubled in price.
I’m just saying that is why META can eat that 25bil for breakfast.
I read a judge was expecting 45-50 billions.
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