Meta is ordered to pay New Mexico $25bn over Cambridge Analytica 'lies' after a judge found a $219bn penalty warranted
Mark Zuckerberg, whose communications with senior Meta executives a judge ruled were "designed to mislead the public" over user data, as the company is ordered to pay $25bn to New Mexico's schools.
New Mexico's consumer protection laws were violated on over 43 million separate occasions, a judge ruled, following Cambridge Analytica's harvesting of data from as many as 87 million Facebook users. Judge Francis Mathew found that internal communications involving executives including Mark Zuckerberg were 'designed to mislead the public'. Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the verdict sent a warning to Silicon Valley. Meta's chief legal officer CJ Mahoney vowed to challenge the decision on appeal.
Mahoney said the ruling makes it 'all but impossible to do business' in New Mexico.
State law directs every dollar of the penalty to New Mexico's school system.
Meta's legal team had put the maximum appropriate penalty at $3.4bn.
