Facebook Ordered to Pay $25 Billion in Fines. Will Meta Stock Crash?

On Wednesday, October 21, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion over Facebook’s user-data practices, following a jury finding that the company had misled users about privacy safeguards. The jury issued its verdict on September 25, identifying nearly 44 million violations of New Mexico’s consumer protection law in a suit the state brought in 2021 after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which a British consulting firm obtained data on up to 87 million Facebook users. The money is designated for New Mexico’s public education system, and the amount is the largest penalty Meta has faced. Meta shares traded near $708, up roughly 2%, in afternoon trading, and the company is expected to appeal.