US court hits Meta with record €22.3 billion fine for misleading users

demorgen.be (Dutch) — October 24, 2026 at 03:01 AM UTC

A court in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay a record €22.3 billion fine for misleading Facebook users during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, marking the company's largest penalty ever. The ruling signals that big tech firms are no longer untouchable in court. The jury found 26 of 29 statements by Meta executives between 2010 and 2021 were unfair or misleading, with the fine reflecting 40 million violations of state consumer law. This follows other 2026 court losses for Meta and Google over addictive platforms and safety claims. Meta, which called fines above €3 billion unconstitutional, plans to appeal. The case stems from the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, and experts say consumer law is now a key tool against tech firms, though AI privacy concerns remain.

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[5.2]

US court hits Meta with record €22.3 billion fine for misleading users (demorgen.be)

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[5.0]

Meta fined $25B in New Mexico over Facebook data privacy lies (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

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[4.5]

Meta’s $25 Billion Fine Unlikely to Alter Its Privacy Practices (cnet.com)

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New Mexico jury orders Meta to pay record $25B fine (arstechnica.com)

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Meta fined $25 billion in New Mexico over Cambridge Analytica data scandal (gsmarena.com)

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New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $25 billion over Cambridge Analytica scandal (usatoday.com)

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Meta fined $25 billion in New Mexico over Cambridge Analytica data privacy case (thehindu.com)

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New Mexico judge fines Meta $25 billion over Cambridge Analytica data privacy case (aljazeera.com)

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[3.9]

New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $25 billion in privacy and hate speech case (noticiasaominuto.com)

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[3.7]

Meta fined record $25B for deceiving Facebook users in New Mexico (podrobnosti.ua)

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[3.5]

Meta faces $25 billion penalty in New Mexico over Facebook data privacy (news18.com)

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Meta faces $25 billion penalty for New Mexico privacy violations (thehindu.com)

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