Meta Hit With $25 Billion Fine in Cambridge Analytica Privacy Case

Meta was ordered to pay $25 billion Wednesday after New Mexico Judge Francis J. Mathew imposed one of the largest penalties ever levied against a tech company for misleading Facebook users about its data privacy practices.The ruling stems from a 2021 lawsuit tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the political consulting firm obtained personal data from as many as 87 million Facebook users without their consent. A jury found Sept. 25 that Meta committed nearly 44 million violations of New Mexico’s consumer protection laws, according to Reuters. The company plans to appeal the judgment, according to the Associated Press. Meta has argued that the state failed to demonstrate that consumers were harmed or misled by its statements about privacy and content moderation. A Meta spokesperson did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. The penalty is substantially less than the $35 billion to $40 billion New Mexico had sought, but still represents a major financial liability for the Facebook and Instagram parent. Meta’s business relies heavily on digital advertising, making the case particularly significant given its origins in the use of Facebook data to target political ads. In his ruling, Mathew said Facebook’s misconduct went to the heart of its business practices, citing years of misleading statements to users. Under New Mexico law, each consumer protection violation carries a potential penalty of up to $5,000, with the money designated for public education. “This judgement should be a signal, an unambiguous message, to Silicon Valley,” New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said Wednesday, according to the AP. The case centers on revelations in 2018 that Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm that worked on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, improperly obtained Facebook user information through a third-party app. The firm used personal data to build voter profiles and help target political messaging. The scandal raised questions about how Facebook collected, shared and protected user data while building one of the world’s largest digital advertising businesses. CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress in 2018, and the company subsequently agreed to pay a record $5 billion fine to the Federal Trade Commission in 2019 over privacy violations. New Mexico pursued its case separately from other states that reached a multibillion-dollar settlement with Meta in August, allowing it to seek additional penalties over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The judgment adds to Meta’s growing legal exposure over its social media platforms. In August, the company was ordered to pay $567 million in a separate New Mexico child safety case, on top of a $375 million jury penalty in March. That case also resulted in court-ordered changes to Facebook and Instagram aimed at protecting younger users.