Meta hit with $25B penalty for deceiving users about privacy on Facebook

Meta (Facebook) was ordered to pay $25 billion in civil penalties following a New Mexico jury verdict finding nearly 44 million violations of the state's Unfair Practices Act related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The penalty represents one of the largest financial judgments against a corporation in U.S. history and addresses Facebook's deceptive representations about user privacy, third-party data access, and its handling of misinformation and hate speech. New Mexico's independent prosecution resulted in the landmark ruling, demonstrating that large technology companies can be held accountable under state consumer protection laws.