In one of the largest fines ever levied against the company that operates Facebook and Instagram, Meta was ordered to pay New Mexico $25 billion after a jury found the company liable for deceiving users about privacy.
State Attorney General Raúl Torrez said technology companies should view the verdict as a warning. Fines for violations of consumer protection laws in New Mexico fund state education.
“For too long, powerful technology companies have operated as though their size and influence put them beyond the reach of the law,” Torrez said in a statement. “This case has always been about more than one company or one scandal. It is about whether corporations can mislead consumers about what happens to their personal information without facing
meaningful consequences.”
A jury found Facebook liable for 43 million violations of state consumer protection laws in September. The judge determined Wednesday how much the company would pay.
“This ruling, and the Attorney General's approach to this enforcement, makes it all but impossible to do business in the state of New Mexico," C.J. Mahoney, Meta's chief legal officer, told USA TODAY in a statement. "At its core, this lawsuit seeks to impose a tax on speech to enforce new rules for what people can say online. We are confident we will prevail on appeal."
The verdict stems from allegations that Facebook deceived users about a data breach in which a personality quiz app harvested data from an estimated 87 million profiles and turned it over to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to generate targeted election ads.
Meta was scheduled to report quarterly earnings after the markets closed.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meta ordered to pay record $25 billion for misleading users on privacy
