A New Mexico judge ordered Meta Platforms to pay $25 billion on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, after a jury found the company misled consumers about data privacy — the largest courtroom penalty yet for the Facebook owner in a legal saga tracing back to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and a verdict that could reshape how social media giants are held accountable across the United States.
Illustration: A judge's gavel beside a glowing digital privacy shield. Judge Francis Mathew set the penalty at $25 billion. (AI-generated illustration)
What Happened
Judge Francis Mathew ordered Meta to pay $25 billion following a jury verdict that found the company had misled consumers in a case arising from allegations that a political consulting firm involved in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign obtained data from millions of Facebook users without their consent, Reuters reported on October 21.
"Facebook's wrongdoing — over the course of years and systematically broadcast to the public — goes to the heart of Facebook's core business practices," Mathew wrote in his order following the verdict, according to Reuters. The judge found that a penalty of more than $219 billion was warranted under state law, but he reduced the figure to $25 billion.
The state's attorney general sued Meta in 2021 following revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm, had harvested personal data from as many as 87 million Facebook users through a third-party app. The state accused Meta of lying to Facebook users in New Mexico about who had access to their data, how the company handles hate speech and misinformation posted on the platform, and other internal policies. A Meta spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters said.
Illustration: A smartphone with user profile icons sealed under a giant padlock, symbolizing data privacy. (AI-generated illustration)
Background
The jury returned its verdict on September 25, finding that Meta had misled consumers about the privacy of their data on Facebook, Reuters reported. At a penalty hearing in early October, New Mexico's attorneys asked the judge to order Meta to pay between $35 billion and $40 billion; Meta's lawyers argued those penalties did not match the conduct the state focused on at trial. "When the parties go to trial, they roll the dice," Mathew told both sides. "They have to accept the consequences of their decision to go to trial, do they not?"
This was the second time in six months a Santa Fe jury weighed a lawsuit brought by New Mexico against Meta. In the first trial, which ended in March, a jury found Meta misled users about young users' safety on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and ordered the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties; after a second phase, a judge directed the company to pay $567 million into a New Mexico fund for teen mental health and ordered measures to protect teen users in the state.
A few weeks after that ruling, Meta reached a sweeping settlement with 47 US states, Washington, D.C., and US territories, agreeing to pay a maximum of about $16.7 billion to resolve claims it designed Facebook and Instagram to addict young children. New Mexico was not part of that settlement, so its Cambridge Analytica case moved forward to trial — and now to this record judgment.
Why It Matters
At $25 billion, the judgment dwarfs previous US penalties against tech companies and signals that state-level courts are willing to price privacy violations at a scale once reserved for federal actions. For Meta, which denied it sells users' information and argued at trial that the allegedly misleading statements were cherry-picked snippets lacking context, the verdict is a direct challenge to how it describes its data practices to the public.
The ruling also lands at a moment of rising legal and regulatory pressure on social media platforms worldwide — from data-center moratoriums in California cities to voter demands for federal AI regulation — and it gives other states a template for pursuing their own cases.
Illustration: The scales of justice balancing a smartphone against money. Meta is expected to appeal the judgment. (AI-generated illustration)
What Happens Next
Meta is widely expected to appeal the judgment, which could keep the case in the courts for years and potentially reduce the final amount. Appeals courts will scrutinize how the $25 billion figure was calculated under New Mexico's consumer-protection statutes. Meanwhile, the verdict strengthens the hand of other state attorneys general and lawmakers pushing for tougher data-privacy enforcement — and it will hang over Meta's earnings calls and regulatory battles for the foreseeable future.
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FAQ
How much was Meta ordered to pay?
Judge Francis Mathew ordered Meta Platforms to pay $25 billion — reduced from a warranted figure of more than $219 billion under state law, according to Reuters.
What was the case about?
The case stemmed from revelations that Cambridge Analytica harvested personal data from as many as 87 million Facebook users through a third-party app. New Mexico accused Meta of lying to users about who had access to their data and how it handles hate speech and misinformation.
When did the jury rule?
The Santa Fe jury returned its verdict on September 25, 2026, finding Meta had misled consumers; the judge set the penalty on October 21 after a hearing where the state sought $35–40 billion.
What did Meta say in its defense?
Meta argued the allegedly misleading statements were cherry-picked snippets that ignored context in which the company had acknowledged its handling of privacy and misinformation was not perfect, and it denied selling users' information, Reuters reported.
Will Meta appeal?
Meta is widely expected to appeal, which could extend the case for years and potentially lower the final amount. Reuters noted a company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sources
- Reuters, October 21, 2026 — "Meta ordered to pay $25 billion to New Mexico after jury finds company misled consumers about data privacy"
- Reuters, October 1, 2026 — "New Mexico wants Meta to pay up to $40 billion in penalties after data privacy trial"
- Reuters, September 25, 2026 — "Meta misled consumers in case over Cambridge Analytica scandal, New Mexico jury says"
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