New Mexico judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company liable for more than 43 million violations of state consumer protection law in a case over Facebook user data and privacy statements. Judge Francis Mathew issued the penalty on October 21, following a September verdict. The jury found Meta liable for misleading consumers about privacy and related platform practices. The case centered on allegations that Cambridge Analytica obtained Facebook users’ personal data through a third-party application and used it for political targeting. The judge reduced an initial penalty exceeding $219 billion to $25 billion. In explaining the amount, Mathew cited the number and nature of the violations, their duration and repetition, senior leadership involvement, and the size of the New Mexico audience reached. State law permits penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the money would go to a state education fund. The award may accrue interest while Meta appeals, according to reporting on the court proceedings. The state had asked for between $35 billion and $40 billion; Meta had argued for a cap of about $3.4 billion....