Meta ordered to pay $25 billion to New Mexico in Cambridge Analytica case
A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company deceived users in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. This follows an $18 billion settlement with 48 other states. Meta calls the ruling a "tax on speech" and expects to appeal. The case stems from data harvested from 87 million users via a quiz app, impacting global privacy standards.
Key points
- Meta, the parent company of Facebook, was ordered by a New Mexico judge to pay $25 billion in damages for deceiving users regarding data privacy.
- The ruling follows a jury verdict in a case related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where data from approximately 87 million Facebook users was improperly harvested via a personality quiz app.
- This penalty supplements an $18 billion settlement Meta recently reached with 48 other US states, including New Mexico, over similar privacy allegations.
- Meta described the New Mexico ruling as "a tax on speech" and stated it is confident it will prevail on appeal, arguing the cost makes doing business in the state difficult.
- The original scandal involved Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, using data from the 'thisisyourdigitallife' app to target political ads during the 2016 US election.
- Facebook initially learned of the data acquisition in December 2015 but did not publicly disclose it until 2018, after a whistleblower revealed the timeline.
A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta Platforms to pay $25 billion to the state, concluding a high-stakes legal battle over data privacy practices linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The decision follows a jury verdict that found the social media giant deceived users about how their personal data was shared with third parties. This substantial penalty comes just months after Meta agreed to an $18 billion settlement with 48 other US states, including New Mexico, addressing similar allegations of misleading privacy disclosures.
The core of the dispute involves the improper harvesting of data from approximately 87 million Facebook users worldwide. The data was collected through a personality quiz application called "thisisyourdigitallife," which was installed by around 270,000 users but also accessed information on their friends. Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, used this data for targeted political advertising, notably during the 2016 US presidential election. Although Facebook learned of the data acquisition in December 2015, it did not publicly disclose the issue until 2018, when a whistleblower brought the timeline to light, sparking a significant political and regulatory backlash.
Meta has reacted strongly to the New Mexico ruling, characterizing it as "a tax on speech" that complicates doing business in the state. The company expressed confidence in its appeal, suggesting the final cost may be reduced. For the global tech industry, this outcome underscores the growing financial risk associated with privacy mismanagement and the increasing willingness of individual US states to pursue significant damages beyond federal oversight.
Sources
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