---
title: "Meta Ordered to Pay New Mexico $25 Billion in Damages"
url: https://noti.group/meta-ordered-to-pay-new-mexico-25-billion-in-damages/
language: en
publisher: "Noti Group"
section: "World News"
published: 2026-10-22T09:23:53.000Z
updated: 2026-10-23T05:11:51.123Z
id: 7f7d1f73-9c47-4f6f-af1f-7f5129ecf892
source: "Al Jazeera https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/22/facebooks-wrongdoing-why-has-meta-been-fined-25bn-in-new-mexico?traffic_source=rss"
attribution: "Link to https://noti.group/meta-ordered-to-pay-new-mexico-25-billion-in-damages/ and name Noti Group when you quote or summarize this story."
---

# Meta Ordered to Pay New Mexico $25 Billion in Damages

A US judge has ordered Meta Platforms to pay New Mexico $25 billion in damages after finding that the company intentionally misled consumers about the privacy of their data.

The ruling comes more than three weeks after a verdict was delivered by Judge Francis Mathew, who stated that Facebook's actions over several years had compromised the core business practices of the company.

A penalty of over $219 billion was initially considered under state law, but the judge decided to reduce it to $25 billion. This reduction still represents one of the largest single-state verdicts against a company in US history.

The New Mexico Attorney General's office has been actively pursuing Meta for its alleged wrongdoing, and Raul Torrez hailed the ruling as a significant victory for consumers.

Meta's chief legal officer, CJ Mahoney, expressed confidence that the company would win on appeal and criticized the court's decision, claiming it effectively makes it impossible to do business in New Mexico.

A New Mexico state court has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in fines for allegedly deceiving users about data handling practices.

The lawsuit against Meta was filed by the state's attorney general in 2021 after revelations that Cambridge Analytica had accessed personal information from up to 87 million Facebook users through a third-party app during the 2016 US presidential election campaign.

The state accused Meta of making false claims about who had access to user data and its handling of hate speech and misinformation on the platform. Lawyers for New Mexico cited a 2010 Washington Post op-ed in which Mark Zuckerberg wrote that Facebook did not sell user data, contradicting allegations that the company tolerated third-party access to users' information.

The fine is part of ongoing pressure on Meta from lawmakers and regulators over concerns about its impact on teen mental health. A trial brought by state attorneys general against the company in a California federal court began in August, alleging that Facebook and Instagram were engineered to be addictive to children.

New Mexico's attorney general has described the judgement as an "unambiguous message" to Silicon Valley, suggesting that tech companies should take heed of the ruling and adapt their practices accordingly.

The latest development in the ongoing saga of Meta's alleged wrongdoing has seen the company slapped with a hefty fine of $25bn by New Mexico authorities.

This massive penalty is part of a larger settlement that addresses claims made by 29 states regarding Meta's misuse of children's data in violation of federal law.

In related news, six other states have reached settlements worth $459m as part of a broader multistate agreement to resolve allegations that Meta's platforms harmed teen mental health.

The sheer scale of the fines and settlements is a testament to the growing pressure on tech giants like Meta to adapt their practices and prioritize accountability in the face of mounting public scrutiny.

---
Source: [Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/22/facebooks-wrongdoing-why-has-meta-been-fined-25bn-in-new-mexico?traffic_source=rss)  
Published by Noti Group: https://noti.group/meta-ordered-to-pay-new-mexico-25-billion-in-damages/