Meta Platforms was ordered to pay a groundbreaking US$25 billion civil penalty to the state of New Mexico in a consumer deception case spurred by the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The fine issued by state court Judge Francis Mathew is among the largest verdicts issued in US legal history.
The award comes after a jury in Santa Fe determined that Meta had violated the state’s consumer protection over 43 million times based on widely viewed deceptive statements made by the company and its top executives about how it handled hate speech and user data.
Under New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act, Mathew could issue penalties of up to US$5,000 per violation.