Meta fined $25bn for 'lies' over user data privacy

Meta fined $25bn for 'lies' over user data privacy

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Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has been hit with the largest ever fine against it for its business practices. A judge in New Mexico ordered the company to pay $25bn (£18.6bn) following a two-week trial earlier this year that found it had spent years lying to the public about how it handled Facebook user data. The fine is the largest to date against Meta, which has either been fined or agreed to settle several other lawsuits this year, including an $18bn deal with California over child safety.

The lawsuit stemmed from the role of Meta, then known as Facebook, in what became known as the Cambridge Analytica scandal. That firm used Facebook user information as part of its work in political consulting, including on work related to the 2016 US Presidential election, which saw Donald Trump elected for the first time. Lawyers for New Mexico sued the company over many statements Meta executives had made over the years that user data was never sold or shared with third parties, when in reality it had been.

Judge Francis Mathew on Wednesday was direct in his decision to fine Meta an amount roughly equal to its profits each quarter. He said Meta's violations of law and misrepresentations to the public about how their Facebook data was used and shared were 'willful' and spanned 'more than 11 years,' stretching from 2010 to 2021. Communications between senior executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, were 'designed to mislead the public,' Judge Mathew wrote in his order.

The full amount of the penalty against Meta, based on thousands of violations of state law, was calculated as $219bn, but Judge Mathew reduced the penalty to the $25bn fine. A spokesperson for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. New Mexico has been one of Meta's most notable adversaries in court, having also fined Meta almost $1bn for misleading the public about the safety of its social media platforms for children.