After jury finds Meta misled Facebook users over data privacy, New Mexico wants company to pay up to $40 billion in penalties
The state of New Mexico asked a state judge to order Meta to pay between $35 billion and $40 billion in civil penalties, following a jury verdict that found the tech giant repeatedly misled users about consumer privacy on Facebook. The request was made during a penalty hearing stemming from the fallout of the Cambridge Analytica controversy, as per a report by news agency Reuters. The British political consultancy, which worked on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, harvested personal data from up to 87 million Facebook users via a third-party application without their explicit consent.
The Santa Fe jury reached its liability verdict on September 25. State District Judge Francis Mathew, who presided over the proceedings, will determine the exact financial penalty Meta must pay.
