New Mexico Judge Orders Meta to Pay $25 Billion Over Facebook Privacy Deceptions

A New Mexico state judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company repeatedly misled users about Facebook’s data‑privacy and content‑moderation practices. Judge Francis Mathew delivered the judgment, ending a case that began in 2021 when the state sued under its Unfair Practices Act following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The jury last month concluded Meta violated the law nearly 44 million times, citing false claims about privacy protection and the platform’s handling of misinformation and hate speech. State Attorney General Raúl Torrez called the ruling “one of the largest financial penalties against a corporation in U.S. history” and said it sends a clear message that no company is above the law. Torrez added that New Mexicans deserve honesty, accountability, and protection of personal information. Meta did not reply to a request for comment. The decision follows Meta’s earlier $18 billion settlement with 52 state attorneys general over allegations that Instagram was designed to be addictive and that the company exposed young users to mental harms while misleading the public about platform safety. ## Context The case highlights growing scrutiny of tech giants’ handling of user data and the increasing willingness of state governments to use consumer‑protection laws to hold them accountable.