Washington: A New Mexico judge in the United States has ordered Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to pay $25 billion in civil penalties after a jury found that the company misled consumers about its data privacy practices.

The ruling was issued on Wednesday, October 21, by Judge Francis Mathew. The court determined that Facebook’s alleged misleading practices continued for years and were communicated systematically to the public. The judge reduced the potential penalty of approximately $219.5 billion to $25 billion.

Case Linked to the Cambridge Analytica Scandal

The case is linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which came to light in 2018. The British political consulting firm obtained personal data from as many as 87 million Facebook users through a third-party application, reportedly without their consent.

The data was used to build profiles of voters for targeted political advertising, including during Donald Trump’s 2016 US presidential election campaign.

New Mexico authorities filed a lawsuit against Facebook in 2021, accusing the company of misleading consumers about how their personal information was collected, shared and protected.

Jury Found Millions of Violations

In September 2026, a jury found that Facebook had committed nearly 43.9 million violations of New Mexico’s consumer protection law. The findings covered the company’s representations about user privacy, third-party access to personal information, and its handling of misinformation and hate speech.

The judge subsequently determined the financial penalty, making the case one of the most significant legal challenges faced by a major technology company in the United States.

Meta Plans to Appeal

Meta has disputed the ruling and indicated that it plans to appeal. The company has argued against the penalty, setting the stage for a further legal battle.

The case has renewed scrutiny of how technology companies collect, manage and share personal data, particularly when that information may be used for political advertising.

The ruling also highlights growing pressure on major social media platforms to be transparent about privacy policies and accountable for how users’ personal information is handled.