Meta to appeal New Mexico court's $25 billion fine decision
Judge allowed the imposition of the maximum penalty under state law after evaluating the company's years of public statements.
A court ordered Meta to pay New Mexico 25 billion dollars, reports Arstechnica. A jury found the company guilty of nearly 44 million violations of the state's consumer protection law.
The proceedings concerned statements made by Facebook—Meta's former name—beginning in 2010. According to case materials, Meta misled users regarding the protection of personal data, third-party apps' access to their information, efforts to combat disinformation and hate speech, and the equal application of moderation rules.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez did not join the 18 billion dollar settlement Meta reached earlier this year with attorneys general from nearly all states. The prosecutor's office sought to increase the penalty to 40 billion dollars, asserting that all state residents were affected.
Judge Francis J. Mathew stated that Meta's leadership, including Mark Zuckerberg, was aware of the company's misleading public statements.
