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

ByKali Hays Technology reporter. 21 October 2026, 19: 01 BST.

Key points

• The lawsuit stemmed from the role of Meta, then known as Facebook, in what became known as the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
• Judge Francis Mathew on Wednesday was direct in his decision to fine Meta an amount roughly equal to its profits each quarter.
• Communications between senior executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, were "designed to mislead the public, " Judge Mathew wrote in his order.
• Meta, the firm behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp has been hit with the largest ever fine against it for its business practices.
• "The lies extend beyond Facebook's data practices as well, " the judge remarked, adding they went to "the heart of Facebook's core business practices."

Notably, a judge in New Mexico on Wednesday ordered the firm to pay $25bn (£18.6bn) after a two week trial earlier this year that discovered it had spent years lying to the public concerning how it handled Facebook user data.

Notably, the fine is the largest to date against Meta. It has either been fined or agreed to settle a number of other lawsuits this year, including an $18bn agreement with California over child safety.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit stemmed from the role of Meta, then known as Facebook, in what became known as the Cambridge Analytica scandal. That firm applied Facebook user information as part of its work in political consulting, including on work related to the 2016 US Presidential election. It saw Donald Trump elected for the first time.

When in reality it had been, lawyers for New Mexcio sued the firm over numerous statements Meta executives had created over the years that user data was never sold or shared with third parties.

He remarked Meta's violations of law and misrepresentations to the public concerning how their Facebook data was applied and shared were "willful" and spanned "more than 11 years, " stretching from 2010 to 2021.

While the full amount of the penalty against Meta, based on thousands of violations of state law, was calculated as $219bn, Judge Mathew reduced the penalty to the $25bn fine.

In practice, 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. The state this year additionally fined Meta almost $1bn for misleading the public concerning the safety of its social media platforms for children.

Notably, the judge overseeing that lawsuit ultimately compared Meta to an industrial polluter of the air, with its form of pollution being "the psychological harm and sexual exploitation of children."

For now, meta fined $25bn for ' lies' over user data privacy remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.