Meta Platforms faces civil penalties between $35 billion and $40 billion from New Mexico. At the top end, this fine would be the largest ever imposed on a U.S. corporation.
The case stems from the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, when a whistleblower revealed the British political consulting firm obtained data from tens of millions of Facebook users without consent through a third-party application. Cambridge Analytica used the data to profile voters and target them with political messages during President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign before filing for bankruptcy.
A Santa Fe jury determined Meta willfully deceived consumers, resulting in over 43 million violations of New Mexico's consumer protection law—a figure that exceeds the state's entire population of approximately two million. Judge Francis Mathew is scheduled to rule on the penalty amount later this month.
Meta's legal team argued that New Mexico's $40 billion request exceeded the scope of conduct at trial. New Mexico did not participate in an August $17 billion settlement Meta reached with dozens of U.S. states and territories over similar claims that the company designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children and misled the public about associated risks.
This represents Meta's latest significant loss in New Mexico. In March, a separate Santa Fe jury found Meta liable for 75,000 violations tied to child safety. A local judge ordered $375 million in penalties and added $567 million after deeming Meta's platforms a public nuisance. Meta said it will appeal those rulings.
Meta's largest prior privacy-related fine was $5 billion from the FTC—the largest privacy-specific penalty imposed on any U.S. company to date. Meta shares closed at $741.90, up 1.9 percent.
