Originally posted October 21, 2026 at 1:43 p.m. CDT.

HOOD COUNTY EXPRESS | NATIONAL BREAKING NEWS

Meta Ordered To Pay $25 Billion Over Facebook Privacy

October 21st, 2026AD

A judge on Wednesday ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $25 billion after a jury found the company liable for deceiving users about privacy and content moderation policies on Facebook, The Associated Press and Reuters reported.

According to the AP, Judge Francis Mathew handed down the amount, which state Attorney General Raúl Torrez described as "one of the largest, if not the single largest state verdict against a company in American history."

THE CASE

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, Reuters reported.

Jurors on September 25 found that 26 of 29 statements made by the company and its leadership were misleading, Reuters reported. They said the company had committed more than 43 million violations of New Mexico's consumer protection laws.

WHAT EACH SIDE ASKED FOR

At a hearing on October 1, Randi McGinn, a lawyer for New Mexico, asked the judge to award the state between $35 billion and $40 billion, according to Reuters.

In court filings, Meta urged a cap of $3.45 billion, saying a higher penalty runs the risk of scaring businesses out of the state, Reuters reported.

WHERE THE MONEY GOES

Under the New Mexico Constitution, fines for violations of consumer protection laws go to state education spending, the AP reported.

"We may have paid for the construction of schools for the next 100 years," said Torrez, who acknowledged that the money would be tied up if Meta appeals as expected, the AP reported.

WHAT'S NEXT

Representatives for Meta, which previously said it plans to appeal the September verdict, didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the amount, the AP reported.

The verdict was the second in six months by a Santa Fe jury in a lawsuit brought by the state of New Mexico against Meta Platforms, Reuters reported. In the first trial, which ended in March, a Santa Fe jury ordered the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties.

SOURCES

  • The Associated Press: https://apnews.com/.../facebook-penalty-cambridge...