New Mexico Court Orders Meta to Pay $25 Billion in Privacy Lawsuit
A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay a $25 billion fine in a privacy lawsuit tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, following a jury verdict.
A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay a massive $25 billion fine following a high-profile privacy lawsuit stemming from the Cambridge Analytica scandal. According to CNBC, the judgment concludes a legal battle over user data protection.
Legal Fallout and Penalties
The penalty follows a jury verdict in Santa Fe in September, which found that the tech giant misled citizens regarding user data collection and protection. Initially, the court calculated a potential penalty of $219.5 billion based on over 43 million violations of unfair practices laws, before the judge finalized the amount at $25 billion.
Background of the Scandal
The Cambridge Analytica scandal, which erupted in 2018, involved the unauthorized harvesting of personal data from 87 million Facebook users. This data was utilized to build psychological profiles for targeted political advertising during the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the Brexit campaign. Meta stated its intention to appeal the ruling.
