Meta ordered to pay $25 billion in New Mexico privacy lawsuit

A New Mexico judge awarded the state $25 billion after a jury concluded that Meta Platforms Inc. deceived consumers about how their personal information was handled. The verdict follows findings that the company falsely told users they controlled data sharing and that it did not sell or share personal data with advertisers.

"This judgment should be a signal, an unambiguous message, to Silicon Valley," New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said at a news conference.

The jury determined that senior Meta executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg, participated in a coordinated effort to misrepresent the platform’s privacy practices. Judge Francis Mathew wrote that the communications were part of a strategy intended to mislead the public.

The case stemmed from allegations that Facebook allowed a third-party personality quiz to harvest data from about 87 million profiles, which was later sold to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica for targeted advertising.

"It is about whether corporations can mislead consumers about what happens to their personal information without facing meaningful consequences," Torrez added.

Meta’s chief legal officer, C.J. Mahoney, said the company is confident it will prevail on appeal, describing the ruling as an attempt to impose a tax on speech and to enforce new online communication rules.

Under the state constitution, consumer-protection fines are directed to education funding, prompting Torrez to note the award could finance school construction for decades, though the money may be held pending appeal. Meta’s shares rose 2 percent in afternoon trading after the announcement.