In brief
A federal judge in New Mexico has fined Meta $25 billion after a two‑week trial that uncovered long‑standing deception about its Facebook data practices. The judge noted that executive communications were crafted to mislead the public and that the fines were cut from an original $219 billion liability. Meta, which previously settled a $18 billion California lawsuit, has again faced a steep regulatory penalty for its handling of user data.
Meta fined $25bn for 'lies' over user data privacy
The company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp has been hit with another massive fine for its business practices.
A federal judge in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $25 billion following a two‑week trial this year that found the company had intentionally lied to the public for years about how it handled and protected Facebook user data.
The judge said the lies went “beyond Facebook's data practices” and touched the very core of its business model, adding that communications between senior executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, were designed to mislead users and regulators.
This $25 billion penalty is the largest assigned to Meta so far, although the full amount calculated from thousands of state law violations came to $219 billion. The judge reduced the liability to reflect statutory limits.
Meta has already faced several other fines and settlements this year, including an $18 billion deal with California over privacy violations.
While a spokesperson for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the company faces questions about the future of its data handling and compliance practices.
