NEW MEXICO, USA: Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has been ordered by a court in the US state of New Mexico to pay $25 billion in penalties over misleading statements concerning the use and protection of users’ personal data. The ruling is being described as the largest financial penalty ever imposed on the company.
Following a two-week trial, a jury found that Meta had misled the public for years about how Facebook users’ information was handled and protected. According to Judge Francis Mathew, the alleged violations spanned more than 11 years, from 2010 to 2021. Communications involving senior company executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, were also cited in the court proceedings.
Meta Announces Plans to Appeal
Meta’s lead lawyer, CJ Mahoney, criticised the ruling, saying it would make it extremely difficult for the company to continue operating in New Mexico. Meta rejected the allegations, arguing that the lawsuit was essentially an attempt to impose new restrictions on online freedom of expression. The company has announced that it will appeal the decision.
State lawyers had sought penalties of up to $40 billion, while Meta argued that any penalty exceeding $3.4 billion would be unconstitutional. The court calculated the potential penalties for the violations at $219 billion but reduced the amount to $25 billion.
According to the jury’s findings, Meta violated state law more than 40 million times, affecting New Mexico’s population of approximately two million people.
Cambridge Analytica Scandal Linked to the Case
The lawsuit was also connected to the widely publicised Cambridge Analytica scandal, which involved the use of information belonging to millions of Facebook users for political consulting and election-related activities. These activities included work associated with the 2016 US presidential election, in which Donald Trump was elected president for the first time.
Authorities also accused Meta of misleading the public about its policies concerning hate speech and how those policies were enforced.
The ruling adds to Meta’s existing legal challenges over data privacy and online safety. In 2019, the US Federal Trade Commission imposed a $5 billion fine on Facebook over its data privacy practices.
Meta has also faced legal action in New Mexico over allegations concerning the safety of its social media platforms for children. These cases have intensified scrutiny of the company’s responsibility to protect users, particularly minors, and to ensure transparency in its handling of personal information.
