25,000,000,000$… US Court Fines Meta For Misleading Users About Data Protection

A New Mexico court has fined Meta $25 billion for misleading Facebook users about how their personal data was used and protected.

The case stems from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which exposed the collection of data from around 87 million users without their consent for political advertising during the 2016 US election.

A jury found Meta responsible for roughly 43.9 million consumer protection violations. The judge reduced the potential penalty from over $219 billion to $25 billion, with funds collected set to support education in New Mexico.

Meta plans to appeal, so the penalty is not yet final.