On Oct. 21, 2026, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay the state $25 billion after a jury found Facebook misled users about data privacy; Meta said it would appeal.
The order came after a jury in September found Meta responsible for about 43.9 million violations of New Mexico’s consumer protection law. Jurors found that Meta made false or misleading claims about how it handled users’ personal information and who could access it. The case came from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, when a political consulting firm got Facebook users’ data through a third-party app.
New Mexico argued that Meta’s public statements about data privacy did not match its practices. Judge Francis Mathew said state law could have allowed a penalty of more than $219 billion. He reduced the amount to $25 billion.
Meta’s chief legal officer said the company believes it will win on appeal. Meta’s chief legal officer also argued that the case threatens the company’s ability to operate in the state. The penalty is among the largest imposed on a U.S. corporation.
The final amount could depend on the outcome of Meta’s appeal.