New Mexico Jury Finds Facebook Liable for 43 Million Privacy Violations, Putting $200 Billion at Stake
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Sep 25
New Mexico Jury Finds Facebook Liable for 43 Million Privacy Violations, Putting $200 Billion at Stake
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Sep 25
Summary
A Santa Fe jury found Facebook liable for more than 43 million violations of New Mexico consumer-protection law after concluding it deceived users about privacy safeguards and the Cambridge Analytica data breach.
State lawyers are seeking the maximum $5,000 per violation, which could push penalties above $200 billion, though a judge will decide the amount at an Oct. 1 hearing.
Jurors also found Facebook misled the public about investigations into third-party app developers, while rejecting the state's separate claims that the company lied about removing harmful content.
Meta said it disagrees with the verdict and will keep defending itself, arguing at trial that the state's evidence was outdated and that its policies had changed since New Mexico sued in 2021.
The case stands out because most states settled Cambridge Analytica-related claims with Meta in August; New Mexico is seeking both money for its education fund and an injunction against similar practices.