A judge in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $25 billion for deceiving Facebook users about protections for their personal data, according to Proton. Meta intends to appeal the ruling, which also imposes annual interest of 15% until the company pays. Facebook users will receive no payouts from the penalty because New Mexico directs consumer protection penalties to public education.
The penalty is the biggest Meta has faced, according to Proton, and is five times the $5 billion imposed by the US Federal Trade Commission in 2019. It does not alter Facebook's current data practices, and an appeal could stretch over years, Proton says. Meta argued that New Mexico had failed to demonstrate that consumers suffered harm.
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New Mexico brought its lawsuit in 2021, alleging Facebook assured people they controlled their information without adequately explaining access by outside parties. A jury in September 2026 found Meta liable for over 40 million breaches of New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act. District Judge Francis Mathew subsequently fixed the financial penalty at $25 billion.
The possible penalty approached $220 billion because each violation could carry a charge of up to $5,000. New Mexico sought as much as $40 billion, while Meta put forward a range between $345 million and $3.45 billion. Mathew's award therefore exceeded the highest figure Meta proposed while remaining below the state's request.
The dispute traces back to Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that collected information from up to 87 million Facebook profiles using a personality quiz. The consultancy then used that information for ad targeting during the US presidential election in 2016. New Mexico also disputed Meta's representations about countering misinformation and hate speech, along with whether it enforced community standards consistently.
New Mexico alone took its Cambridge Analytica allegations through a trial. In August 2026, another 46 states and two territories resolved their claims for roughly $459 million within a broader $17 billion Meta settlement largely addressing teen safety. The $25 billion awarded in New Mexico exceeds that separate Cambridge Analytica settlement amount by more than fiftyfold.
