The penalty follows a jury verdict that the company violated state consumer protection laws more than 43 million times through misleading statements about its data practices and the enforcement of rules against harmful content.
Judge Francis Mathew issued the ruling on Wednesday, reducing the potential penalty of more than $219 billion to $25 billion. The judge found that Meta’s alleged misconduct was deliberate and spanned more than 11 years, from 2010 to 2021.
The case centred partly on the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which came to light in 2018 after revelations that the British political consulting firm had obtained personal information from as many as 87 million Facebook users through a third-party application without their consent.
The firm used the information for voter profiling and political targeting, including work connected to Donald Trump’s 2016 US presidential campaign.
New Mexico’s Attorney General Raúl Torrez sued Meta in 2021, accusing the company of misleading residents about who could access their personal information. The state also alleged that Meta misrepresented how it handled hate speech and misinformation on its platforms.
Torrez welcomed the ruling, saying it sent a message that major technology companies could be held accountable for their business practices.
“For too long, powerful technology companies have operated as though their size and influence put them beyond the reach of the law,” he said.
Meta disputed the ruling and said it would appeal. The company’s Chief Legal Officer, C.J. Mahoney, argued that the lawsuit sought to impose restrictions on online expression.
The penalty adds to the company’s mounting legal challenges over data privacy and online safety. In 2019, Meta paid a $5 billion penalty to the US Federal Trade Commission over its data privacy practices following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
New Mexico also secured nearly $1 billion in penalties against Meta earlier this year in separate cases concerning the safety of its platforms for children and allegations of harm to young users.
Despite the legal setbacks, Meta continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence. The company reported revenue of $64.5 billion in the July-to-September period, up 26% from a year earlier, while profits tripled to $9.8 billion.
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