US judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion over Facebook privacy violations

A United States judge has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company misled Facebook users about privacy protections. This represents the largest fine ever levied against the technology company. New Mexico state District Judge Francis Mathew issued the ruling, stating that "Facebook promised users that they controlled their data. This was false."

Last month, a jury determined that Meta was responsible for more than 43 million violations of New Mexico's consumer protection laws. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez described the verdict as one of the largest state decisions against a company in US history, and emphasized that it "should be a signal, an unambiguous message, to Silicon Valley." According to Torrez, the entire award will be directed to the state's education system.

During the hearing, Meta's lawyer Matt Nicholson argued that even a penalty of $40 billion would be excessive, claiming that "the jury didn't make findings that any New Mexican heard or saw these statements, or was harmed by them." However, a lawyer for New Mexico, Randi McGinn, countered by calling on the court to resist "tech titans who think they are bulletproof and can do whatever they want." The penalty substantially exceeds the $5 billion fine imposed by the Federal Trade Commission on Facebook in 2019. New Mexico had accused Meta of deceiving users about who could access their personal data and about how the company managed harmful content on its platforms.