A federal jury has ordered Meta to pay a $25 billion penalty to New Mexico after finding the company guilty of nearly 44 million violations of state consumer protection laws. This verdict represents the largest fine ever imposed on the tech giant and followed New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez's decision to reject an $18 billion settlement that Meta reached with attorneys general in nearly all other states earlier this year.
In a ruling delivered Wednesday, US District Court Judge Francis J. Mathew stated that no single rule dictated the appropriate penalty amount. The judge cited Meta's repeated and willful deception of users regarding data control, third-party data misuse, misinformation, hate speech, and equal enforcement practices since 2010. The decision marks a significant legal outcome for the state, which pursued its own litigation after opting out of the multistate agreement.