US judge fines Meta $25b in Cambridge Analytica privacy case

A US judge has ordered Meta to pay a record $25 billion fine after a jury found the company misled consumers about privacy protections.

The lawsuit, initiated in 2021 by New Mexico's attorney general, stemmed from revelations that UK political consultancy Cambridge Analytica harvested personal data from up to 87 million Facebook users via a third-party application without consent. New Mexico prosecutors accused Meta of deceiving users over who accessed their information, misrepresenting internal policies, and tolerating hate speech and misinformation when financially advantageous. Judge Francis Mathew noted that while state law warranted a penalty exceeding $219 billion, he reduced the sanction to $25 billion, ruling that the multi-year misconduct directly impacted core business practices.

The latest fine adds to the social media company's escalating legal costs, following a separate $17 billion settlement in August to resolve multistate litigation concerning child safety and addictive platform design. Despite these substantial liabilities, Meta posted a 26% rise in quarterly revenue, reaching $64.6 billion.

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