Meta ordered to pay $25 billion to New Mexico in Cambridge Analytica privacy case
New Mexico judge Francis Mathew ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found nearly 44 million violations of the state's consumer protection laws in a case stemming from the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
SANTA FE — A New Mexico judge on Wednesday ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in penalties in a data-privacy case arising from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, one of the largest fines ever imposed on a technology company.
Judge Francis Mathew’s ruling followed a Santa Fe jury verdict on 25 September that found Meta misled consumers about its data practices, committing nearly 44 million violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act. Each violation carried a maximum penalty of $5,000 — warranting a total of $219.5 billion — which the judge reduced to $25 billion. The figure is below the $35–40 billion the state’s lawyers had sought, but dwarfs the $5 billion Meta agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission in 2019.
The case was filed in 2021 by then-attorney general Hector Balderas and taken to trial under current attorney general Raúl Torrez. It centred on Cambridge Analytica, the British political consulting firm that harvested the data of up to 87 million Facebook users through a third-party app and worked on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Torrez said the judgment should be “a signal, an unambiguous message, to Silicon Valley.” Under New Mexico law, the money is designated for public education.
Meta’s chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney said the ruling “makes it all but impossible to do business in the state of New Mexico” and that the company is “confident we will prevail on appeal.” Meta has said it will appeal.
Sources: TheWrap (https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/tech/meta-25-billion-penalty-cambridge-analytica-privacy-case/), TechCrunch (https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/21/meta-ordered-to-pay-25-billion-in-case-related-to-cambridge-analytica-scandal/)
IMAGE-SUBJECT: PASS — I opened meta-ordered-25-billion-new-mexico-cambridge-analytica.jpg and read it: an aerial photograph of Meta’s main headquarters campus in Menlo Park, with the Meta sign visible at the entrance. Correct subject entity (Meta), recent (2023), not generic stock. Photo: InvadingInvader, CC BY-SA 4.0 — licence confirmed on the Wikimedia Commons file page.
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