10:13Machine-translated from Azerbaijani by AIRead in Azerbaijani
Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion in Privacy Case
In the US state of New Mexico, Judge Francis J. Mathew ruled that Meta must pay $25 billion (approximately AZN 42.5 billion). The case was brought over the deception of Facebook users regarding the privacy of their data. The ruling is based on events that occurred about 10 years ago. Meta announced that it will appeal the ruling.
The trial lasted 2 weeks. Last month, the jury found 43 million violations of the state's consumer protection law. The maximum penalty for each violation can be $5,000 (AZN 8,500). Prosecutors had sought a total of $215 billion (approximately AZN 365.5 billion). Meta's lawyers wanted the amount to be $3.4 billion (approximately AZN 5.78 billion).
The state of New Mexico filed the lawsuit in 2021. The case centers on the Cambridge Analytica scandal that came to light in 2018. The British company had collected data on approximately 87 million users through Facebook quizzes. The data was used to target potential voters during Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. According to the lawsuit, Facebook also misled people about privacy, misinformation and efforts to limit hate speech.
The jury also found statements by Facebook executives to be misleading. These included messages from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. According to the judge, although employees and executives were aware of the problems, the platform repeated its previous promises that users could control their data. The large number of violations, their prolonged duration and their systematic nature justified the substantial penalty.
Meta's head of legal affairs, C.J. Mahoney, said the ruling makes it almost impossible for the company to operate in New Mexico. The company believes the lawsuit is intended to impose new rules on what is said online. Mahoney said they are confident that the ruling will be changed on appeal. The company's platforms will continue operating while the legal proceedings continue.
In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook $5 billion (approximately AZN 8.5 billion) for violating users' privacy. In August 2026, Meta reached a settlement with states over platforms alleged to be addictive. The settlement amounted to approximately $17-18 billion (AZN 28.9-30.6 billion). New Mexico and Florida did not join the settlement to avoid eliminating liability in the Cambridge Analytica case.
That same month, another judge in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay nearly $1 billion (approximately AZN 1.7 billion) in a case involving young people's mental health and data privacy. Money from consumer rights cases won by the state is allocated to schools. According to Attorney General Raul Torrez, the funds from the latest ruling could finance school construction for the next 100 years. However, how much Meta will ultimately pay depends on the outcome of the appeal.