New Mexico Jury Rules Meta Misled Users, Finds 43 Million Privacy Violations

A New Mexico jury on Friday, Sept. 25, found that META violated the state's Unfair Practices Act and misled residents about their privacy and how the company handles misinformation . Jurors counted 43,899,720 willful violations and sided with the state on 31 of 34 verdict questions.

The case dates to a 2021 lawsuit filed after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which data from about 87 million Facebook users was harvested. Cambridge Analytica-related violations were the largest category, at more than 18.1 million. At trial, Meta's lawyers admitted the company had made mistakes with how it handled misinformation and privacy in the past, but denied it sold users' data or benefited from hate speech . A Meta spokesperson said the company has "a First Amendment right to manage those platforms in a way we believe best serves the interests of our community."

The verdict settles liability only. A judge has yet to rule how much Meta will be fined . New Mexico law allows up to $5,000 per violation, which implies a theoretical ceiling of roughly $219.5 billion; that is a statutory maximum, not an award. Attorney General Raúl Torrez's office has said it will seek maximum penalties and ask the court to order corrective measures such as data-management audits. A ruling is expected within weeks, and an appeal could take 2-3 years.

This case is separate from Meta's earlier multistate settlements. New Mexico and Florida declined to join the Cambridge Analytica portion of a prior multistate settlement, which allowed this trial to proceed . Watch Judge Mathew's penalty decision, any court-ordered remedies, and Meta's appeal.