A Santa Fe judge has ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $25 billion, marking what the state's attorney general calls one of the largest single-state verdicts against a tech company in U.S. history. The ruling follows a jury's finding that the company violated state consumer protection laws more than 43 million times by misleading users about its data practices.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez (D) announced the judgment Wednesday, framing it as a warning to the broader tech industry. "Today's judgment from a state, which admittedly is not very big in terms of population, should be a clear warning to everyone in Big Tech, Mr. Zuckerberg, Meta, social media companies, indeed AI companies," Torrez said at a press conference.
The case stems from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where the British consulting firm harvested Facebook user data for political advertising during the 2016 election. Jurors found Meta liable for violating New Mexico's consumer protection laws, and Judge Francis Mathew issued the $25 billion order just weeks after the verdict.
Appeals and Allocation
Torrez acknowledged that an appeal is expected, but said the state will fight to secure the funds. "We intend to do everything in our power to make sure that those resources are eventually delivered" to New Mexico, he told reporters. If the judgment stands, the money would be directed toward public education in the state.
New Mexico was one of only two states that opted out of the 48-state settlement with Meta, which totaled $459 million. The state's attorneys originally sought between $35 billion and $40 billion, arguing that the penalty needed to be large enough to affect Meta's stock price and drive real change. Meta's lawyers pushed back, proposing a cap of $3.4 billion and claiming that anything over $34 billion would violate due process.
Torrez contrasted the outcomes for other states with New Mexico's award. "The fact that we received a judgment today that is less than the total statutory max shouldn't be mistaken for the larger message," he said. "The previously settled states are sharing $459 million for the conduct at issue, and New Mexico just received a $25 billion judgment. So I'll leave it to you to determine whether and to what extent that counts as a victory."
Legal Battles Continue
Wednesday's order is the latest development in a series of legal fights over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Meta's bid to block a shareholder lawsuit related to the data misuse. Shareholders accused the company of misleading investors in a 2016 securities filing by failing to mention Cambridge Analytica's improper access to user data, even though the filing warned generally about risks from third-party data misuse.
The shareholders argued that the omission led them to believe no such incident had occurred. Meta countered that the risk disclosures were forward-looking and did not imply that a past event had not happened. The Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the case without ruling on the merits.
This verdict adds to a growing list of legal and regulatory pressures on major tech firms. As other courts weigh challenges to government actions, the New Mexico ruling signals that states are willing to take on Big Tech directly. The case also echoes broader concerns about corporate accountability and data privacy that have become central to public discourse.
For now, Meta faces a massive financial blow, though the company is expected to appeal. The final outcome could reshape how states pursue consumer protection claims against tech giants, and whether penalties can be calibrated to have a meaningful impact on corporate behavior.
