Meta ordered to pay New Mexico $25 billion after judge trims a $219 billion penalty

A New Mexico judge on Wednesday ordered Meta Platforms to pay $25 billion in the state’s Cambridge Analytica case, after initially calculating a $219.5 billion penalty. Judge Francis Mathew multiplied the jury’s count of more than 43 million violations by $5,000, the maximum allowed under the state’s Unfair Practices Act, with 15% annual interest until payment. Jurors had found 26 of 29 statements by Facebook and its leadership misleading, counting one Facebook user or New Mexico resident in the audience as a violation; up to 87 million users’ data was harvested by British consultancy Cambridge Analytica through a third-party app. Then-Attorney General Hector Balderas filed the suit in 2021. Meta said it is confident it will prevail on appeal.