Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion in Facebook Privacy Case
Published On 26 Oct, 2026
9 News HD: A judge in New Mexico has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found that the company had misled Facebook users about their personal data. The case is linked to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that gained access to data from millions of Facebook accounts without users’ permission.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez called the decision one of the largest financial penalties ever given to a company by a US state. Judge Francis Mathew said Meta’s actions over several years were linked to its main business practices. Although the judge said the penalty could have been more than $219 billion under state law, he reduced it to $25 billion.
The case began in 2021 when New Mexico sued Meta. The state accused the company of misleading users about who could access their personal information. It also raised concerns about hate speech, false information and other harmful content on Facebook.
Cambridge Analytica, which is no longer in business, obtained information from as many as 87 million Facebook users through a third-party app. The data was used to study voters and target them with political messages during Donald Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign.
A jury found in September that Meta had made misleading statements and violated New Mexico’s consumer protection laws more than 43 million times. Under state law, the money from the penalty will go to New Mexico’s school system.
Meta has rejected the ruling and said it is confident it will win its appeal. The company argues that the penalty is unfair and could make it difficult to do business in the state.
Legal experts expect the case to continue for a long time as Meta challenges the decision in court. The ruling has once again raised concerns about how social media companies collect, use and protect people’s personal information.
