Facebook found liable in New Mexico as TikTok settles Alabama case for $100m
A New Mexico jury found Facebook misled residents over data privacy after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, while TikTok agreed to pay Alabama at least $100m over teen safety claims.
Two major user-safety legal battles ended on Friday as a New Mexico jury found Facebook liable for deceptive practices and TikTok agreed a $100m settlement with Alabama.
A jury in Santa Fe found Meta Platforms misled the state’s residents in a case stemming from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which data from as many as 87 million Facebook users was harvested through a third-party app and used to profile voters for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Jurors found 26 of 29 statements identified by New Mexico to be misleading, covering how the company shared user data with third parties and handled hate speech and misinformation. The jury recorded over 43 million violations of state consumer protection law; a judge will now decide the penalty, with the state seeking the maximum $5,000 per violation. Meta said it disagreed with the verdict and would continue to defend itself.
In a separate deal, TikTok and parent company ByteDance agreed to pay Alabama at least $100m within 45 days, days before a trial was due to begin in Montgomery state court. The payment could rise to $300m if 40 other attorneys general sign similar agreements within a set timeframe.
TikTok will impose new teen safeguards: a two-hour daily time limit, pauses after 15 minutes of use, stricter age checks, and restricted access between midnight and 6am. It is TikTok’s first settlement with a US state. Attorney General Steve Marshall said: “This is a great day for Alabama parents.”
Sources
- Al Jazeera: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/26/facebook-found-liable-as-tiktok-settles-for-100m-over-user-safety
- Reuters (New Mexico jury): https://www.reuters.com/business/meta-misled-consumers-case-over-cambridge-analytica-scandal-new-mexico-jury-says-2026-09-25/
- AP via WVLT (43 million violations): https://www.wvlt.tv/2026/09/25/jury-finds-facebook-liable-deceiving-users-about-privacy-protections/
- Reuters via WIXX (TikTok settlement): https://wixx.com/2026/09/25/first-us-trial-against-tiktok-to-test-claims-platform-fueled-teen-mental-health-crisis/
- Alabama AG press release (EIN Presswire): https://www.einpresswire.com/article/945333691/attorney-general-marshall-announces-historic-multi-million-dollar-settlement-with-tiktok
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