A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in penalties over the Cambridge Analytica data privacy case. The judge cut the state's $219.5 billion award to that figure, and Meta shares traded roughly 1.8% higher on Wednesday.
A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in penalties on Wednesday in a data privacy case that stems from the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The penalty appeared in a court filing.
How the penalty reached $25 billion
The order follows a September jury finding that Meta misled state citizens about how it safeguards and collects user data. The jury concluded Meta had over 43 million violations of the state's unfair practices act, and each violation carries a civil penalty as high as $5,000.
Meanwhile, the filing showed the state was awarded $219.5 billion before the penalty was reduced to $25 billion. Judge Francis Mathew also set interest at 15% each year until the fine is paid in full.
At an October 1 hearing, a lawyer for New Mexico requested between $35 billion and $40 billion. Meta asked the judge to limit penalties to $3.45 billion and said it does not sell user data.
The judge's findings on Facebook's investigation
Judge Mathew wrote that Facebook's internal examination was willfully ineffective, citing pressure from senior executives to keep costs down and a lack of adequate enforcement resources. According to CNBC, the judge said: "Facebook did not conduct the comprehensive investigation that it promised" after the Cambridge Analytica revelations.
New Mexico's attorney general filed the lawsuit in 2021 after Cambridge Analytica obtained personal data from up to 87 million Facebook users through a third-party app. Attorney General Raúl Torrez told reporters all funds will go to New Mexico's school system.
Meta's other New Mexico cases
This is the second jury verdict in six months against Meta in the state. In March, a Santa Fe jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million over young users' safety, and a judge later directed an additional $567 million into a fund for teen mental health.
On the stock, Meta shares traded roughly 1.8% higher on Wednesday.
Sources: CNBC, Investing.com
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