Meta faces $25 billion hit over Cambridge Analytica scandal

Meta faces a huge legal blow over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. A New Mexico jury has ordered the tech giant to pay $25B after finding that it misled users about Facebook’s safety. The verdict puts its privacy record back in focus.

Why Meta was ordered to pay

As reported by CNBC, Judge Francis Mathew ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $25B on October 21. A jury had found in September that the company misled people about data privacy and other policies on Facebook. The case began with a lawsuit filed by New Mexico’s attorney general in 2021. The state said Meta gave users a false idea of who could see their personal information.

Jurors found that 26 of 29 statements made by Meta and its leaders were misleading. They counted more than 43 million violations of the state’s consumer protection law. The law allows a penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation. The judge said the law could support a penalty of more than $219B, but he cut the amount to $25B. New Mexico had asked for between $35B and $40B. The company had argued that the penalty should be capped at $3.45B.

How Cambridge Analytica fits in

The case is linked to events that came to light in 2018. Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm, obtained Facebook user data through a third-party app. The data was used to build profiles of voters and support political targeting. Data from as many as 87 million Facebook users may have been shared without their consent.

The New Mexico case is not only about the old data scandal. The state also challenged Meta’s claims about how it handled harmful posts, hate speech and misinformation. Meta denied that it sells users’ personal data and argued that the state had not shown that people were actually misled. The company also said the statements cited by the state lacked important context. But the jury sided with New Mexico on most of the claims it considered.

Meta plans to fight the ruling

Meta has said it expects to appeal. Its legal team argues that the ruling threatens free speech and could harm how online services operate. The company has faced other legal cases over privacy and the safety of young users. The penalty is a major setback for Meta, though the company is likely to challenge it in court. The ruling does not mean the company has already paid the money. An appeal could take time, and the final outcome may change.

The case also shows how states can use consumer protection laws to challenge large technology firms. New Mexico chose to continue its case after other states reached a separate settlement over related privacy claims. For users, the dispute raises a simple question that how much control do people really have over personal information they share online?

Author’s Opinion

The verdict shows why trust matters in social media. People need to understand how companies use their data and what risks they face. Big tech firms must be open about these issues. Still, the legal process must run its course before the full impact is clear.

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