Judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion in New Mexico Cambridge Analytica case

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, to pay $25 billion on Wednesday. The order followed a jury finding that the company misled consumers ¹. The case grew out of the Cambridge Analytica scandal ¹.

Cambridge Analytica was a British political consulting firm involved in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. It is accused of obtaining data from millions of Facebook users without their consent ¹. News reports in 2018 said it collected personal data from as many as 87 million users through a third-party app ².

What the judge said

Judge Francis Mathew found that state law supported a penalty of more than $219 billion. He reduced it to $25 billion ¹. In his order he wrote about the company's conduct over a period of years ¹.

Facebook’s wrongdoing – over the course of years and systematically broadcast to the public – goes to the heart of Facebook’s core business practices

On September 25, a Santa Fe jury found that 26 of 29 statements by Meta and its leaders were misleading. The statements covered user data, hate speech and misinformation ¹². Jurors counted more than 43 million violations of New Mexico's consumer protection laws ¹.

State law allows up to $5,000 per violation. All of the money goes to New Mexico's school system, Attorney General Raúl Torrez told reporters after the verdict ¹. New Mexico sued Meta in 2021 ¹.

The two sides

At an October 1 hearing, state lawyer Randi McGinn asked for between $35 billion and $40 billion ¹.

This court should speak to Meta in the only language it understands, which is money, and the value of its stock price

Meta asked the judge to cap the penalties at $3.45 billion. It argued that a larger penalty could scare businesses out of the state ¹. The company also said it does not sell user data and that New Mexico did not prove any consumer was actually misled ¹. After the September verdict, a Meta spokesperson said the company disagreed and would keep defending itself ². Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new order ¹.

Not Meta's first loss in New Mexico

This was the second verdict against Meta from a Santa Fe jury in six months ¹. In March, a jury found Meta misled users about young people's safety on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. It ordered $375 million in civil penalties ¹. A judge later directed Meta to pay $567 million into a New Mexico fund for teen mental health ¹.

Meta's legal bills are growing. It reported a $9.9 billion U.S. settlement payment in its quarterly earnings on Wednesday. In August it agreed to pay $17 billion to settle a lawsuit by dozens of state attorneys general, who said it designed addictive products that harmed children ¹. Even so, Meta reported quarterly revenue up 26% to $64.6 billion ¹.

What happens next

The sources do not say whether Meta will appeal the $25 billion order. At the September verdict, Meta said it disagreed and would keep defending itself ². The state has also said it will seek changes to how Meta operates, including corrections to past statements and an audit of how it manages user data ².

That matters because the penalty is large enough to be hard to ignore, even for a company that took in $64.6 billion in a single quarter ¹. It also shows a state court holding a powerful company to account for what it told the public about people's personal information.

The Record

1. Jan 1, 2021New Mexico's attorney general sued Meta over user data and other statements to consumers; the sources give the year only ¹.
2. Sep 25, 2026A Santa Fe jury found 26 of 29 Meta statements misleading and counted more than 43 million violations ¹².
3. Oct 1, 2026At a hearing, New Mexico asked for $35 billion to $40 billion; Meta asked for a cap of $3.45 billion ¹.
4. Oct 21, 2026Judge Francis Mathew ordered Meta to pay $25 billion, down from a possible $219 billion ¹.

Sources

1. The Guardian, “Meta ordered to pay $25bn to New Mexico in Cambridge Analytica data-privacy case” (2026-10-21). theguardian.com/technology/2026/oct/21/meta-fined-new-mexico
2. The Star (Malaysia), “Meta misled consumers in case over Cambridge Analytica scandal, New Mexico jury says” (2026-09-26). thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2026/09/26/meta-misled-consume

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