Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has been ordered to pay a record $25 billion (£18.6 billion) in fines following a trial in New Mexico. This ruling, delivered by a judge on Wednesday, stems from findings that the company misled the public about its handling of user data for years.
Background of the Case
The lawsuit originated from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where the firm accessed data from millions of Facebook users for political consulting, notably during the 2016 US Presidential election. The US Federal Trade Commission had previously fined Meta $5 billion in 2019 for similar data privacy violations.
Key Findings
During the trial, it was revealed that Meta executives had repeatedly claimed that user data was never shared with or accessed by third parties without user consent. However, evidence showed that this was not the case, impacting approximately 2 million residents of New Mexico. A jury found that Meta had violated state laws over 40 million times.
