Zuckerberg will pay $25 billion for deceiving social media users

A court in the state of New Mexico has imposed a $25 billion fine on Meta for misleading users about the processing of their personal data. The jury found that the violations were intentional and continued from 2010 to 2021. The case was sparked by the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

A court in the U.S. state of New Mexico has imposed a $25 billion fine on Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. This is the largest fine in the company's history. The decision was made by a Santa Fe district court judge following a civil trial. The jury found that Meta had misled users for years about the processing of their personal data. Judge Francis Matthew stated that the deception concerned not only data handling methods but also the very foundation of the network's business practices and was intentional from 2010 to 2021. The case was prompted by Meta's role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which used Facebook user data for political consulting, including during Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. New Mexico authorities filed the lawsuit due to statements by Meta executives that user data was not sold or shared with third parties. The fine amount roughly corresponds to Meta's quarterly profit. Earlier this year, the company was already fined $18 billion in a case involving child safety.