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Meta’s court woes continue. A New Mexico judge ordered the company to pay $25 billion on Wednesday for deceiving users about its data privacy practices, one of the largest penalties ever levied against a tech company, according to The New York Times. The judge said the “extraordinary number of willful violations” justified the steep penalty.
New Mexico sued Meta in 2021 over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the British political consulting firm obtained data from tens of millions of Facebook users without their knowledge. Last month, a Santa Fe jury found Meta committed 43 million violations of the state’s consumer protection laws, each carrying a penalty of up to $5,000.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the result makes clear that “no corporation is too powerful to be held accountable.” Meta did not immediately respond to the Times’ request for comment.
In August, Meta agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion to settle claims from 47 states that its platforms were designed to be addictive to kids, along with changes like two-hour daily time limits for teens. That deal included $459 million for Cambridge Analytica privacy claims, so other states are unlikely to follow New Mexico’s lead. A New Mexico judge also ordered Meta to pay $567 million in a separate case that month.
Meta’s court woes continue. A New Mexico judge ordered the company to pay $25 billion on Wednesday for deceiving users about its data privacy practices, one of the largest penalties ever levied against a tech company, according to The New York Times. The judge said the “extraordinary number of willful violations” justified the steep penalty.
New Mexico sued Meta in 2021 over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the British political consulting firm obtained data from tens of millions of Facebook users without their knowledge. Last month, a Santa Fe jury found Meta committed 43 million violations of the state’s consumer protection laws, each carrying a penalty of up to $5,000.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the result makes clear that “no corporation is too powerful to be held accountable.” Meta did not immediately respond to the Times’ request for comment.
In August, Meta agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion to settle claims from 47 states that its platforms were designed to be addictive to kids, along with changes like two-hour daily time limits for teens. That deal included $459 million for Cambridge Analytica privacy claims, so other states are unlikely to follow New Mexico’s lead. A New Mexico judge also ordered Meta to pay $567 million in a separate case that month.