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A penalty, in legal terms, is a court-imposed monetary punishment for wrongful conduct, separate from any money paid to compensate victims directly.
A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay nearly $1 billion under that authority, in a lawsuit the state's attorney-general filed in 2023 over harm the company's social media platforms caused to children.
The court's ruling The judge described the payment as an extra fine.
That phrase signals the amount is punitive rather than compensatory: imposed in addition to other case obligations, not calculated to cover a specific victim's losses.
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