New Mexico Seeks $40 Billion in Penalties From Meta Over Cambridge Analytica Scandal
The state’s attorney argues that the penalties must be substantial enough to directly impact the company's financials.
State authorities in New Mexico have asked a judge to order Meta to pay between $35 billion and $40 billion following a jury verdict in favor of the government regarding the Cambridge Analytica scandal. New Mexico originally filed the lawsuit against Meta in 2021, alleging the company misled users about data privacy practices. Cambridge Analytica harvested information from over 50 million Facebook profiles without consent to target political ad campaigns.
A New Mexico jury ruled that Meta violated the state's Unfair Practices Act, misleading residents about privacy and content moderation. Jurors reviewed 29 statements made by the company and found 26 to be misleading. Based on the number of local Facebook users exposed to those statements, the jury concluded Meta committed millions of violations of consumer protection laws, opening the door for substantial statutory penalties.
The state's attorney argued that financial penalties must be large enough to influence the corporation's stock price and operations. Meanwhile, Meta has asked the court to cap the penalties at $3.45 billion, claiming the state failed to prove residents were actually misled. A final decision from the judge is expected later this month.
