Meta faces $25 billion penalty for New Mexico privacy violations

Meta must pay $25 billion as a civil penalty for violating New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act, the largest fine it has ever faced, announced on October 21. The jury found over 43 million violations, including deceptive privacy statements, unkept data deletion promises, and poor oversight of developers, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg's internal messages cited as evidence. The penalty, five times larger than the FTC's $5 billion fine, could encourage other states to sue Meta, though the company plans to appeal, with interest accruing at 15% annually.