Meta ordered to pay $25 billion for deceiving users about privacy on Facebook
asserted
Meta → order → Facebook
A judge has ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $25 billion after a jury found the company liable for deceiving users about privacy and content moderation on Facebook
A judge on Wednesday ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $25 billion after a jury found the company liable for deceiving users about privacy and content moderation policies on Facebook.
asserted
company → order → Facebook
Judge Francis Mathew handed down the amount, which state Attorney General Raúl Torrez described as "one of the largest, if not the single largest state verdict against a company in American history.”
asserted
Torrez → hand → history
Torrez said the verdict should be a warning for tech companies and that New Mexico would continue to hold them accountable.
asserted
them → say → companies
“This judgement should be a signal, an unambiguous message, to Silicon Valley,” Torrez said at a news conference.
asserted
Torrez → say → conference
Under the New Mexico Constitution, fines for violations of consumer protection laws go state education spending.
asserted
fines → go → spending
“We may have paid for the construction of schools for the next 100 years,” said Torrez, who acknowledged that the money would be tied up if Meta appeals as expected.
uncertain
Meta → pay → years
Representatives for Meta, which previously said it plans to appeal the September verdict, didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the amount.
asserted
it → say → amount
The Menlo Park, California-based company was scheduled to report its quarterly earnings Wednesday afternoon and its shares were trading 2% higher following the penalty announcement.
asserted
shares → base → announcement
Jurors in September found Meta liable for over 43 million violations of New Mexico consumer protection laws when a political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, harvested Facebook user data to generate targeted political ads for the 2016 election.
asserted
firm → find → election
Forty-eight other states settled with Facebook in a nationwide case, but New Mexico chose to take the social media company to court on its own.
asserted
Mexico → settle → own
Attorneys for New Mexico had sought $35 billion to $40 billion, arguing that the company would only change its ways with a sum that affected its stock price.
asserted
that → seek → price
Lawyers for Meta argued for paying no more than $3.4 billion.
asserted
Lawyers → argue → billion
An award 10 times that or even more would violate due process, was unconstitutional and would not hold up under appeal, they said.
asserted
they → violate → appeal
Meta argued the state failed to prove misleading statements about privacy and that content moderation actually harmed New Mexicans.
asserted
moderation → argue → Mexicans
Interest on the penalty would accrue during an appeal, but the number of violations Meta is charged with could be reduced.
uncertain
Meta → accrue → violations
Meta attorney Matt Nicholson argued in court that a sum as high as $40 billion would be “shocking to the conscience” while an attorney for New Mexico, Randi McGinn, urged standing up to “tech titans who think they are bulletproof and can do whatever they want.”
asserted
they → argue → whatever
The state's case focused on accusations that Facebook deceived users about a data breach stemming from a third-party personality quiz that harvested data from roughly 87 million profiles and sold it to a political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, to generate targeted ads.
asserted
that → focus → ads
The now-defunct firm’s clients included the 2016 campaign for President Donald Trump.
asserted
clients → include → Trump
Attorneys for New Mexico argued that the state's entire population, not just Facebook users, were deceived by the company's public statements about privacy on the platform.
asserted
population → argue → platform
Facebook's lawyers argued that the state failed to prove whether people were actually harmed by these deceiving statements.
asserted
people → argue → statements
“The jury didn’t make findings that any New Mexican heard or saw these statements, or was harmed by them," said Nicholson during a hearing Oct. 1.
asserted
Nicholson → make → hearing
New Mexico prosecutors also argued that Facebook allowed misinformation or violent content to proliferate on the platform.
asserted
misinformation → argue → platform
Defense attorneys vehemently denied the allegations, saying the company’s content moderation policies are robust and freedom of speech has to be considered.
asserted
freedom → deny → speech
New Mexico was the only state to pursue a trial around the Cambridge Analytica scandal after 48 other states signed a settlement for $18 billion in August.
asserted
states → pursue → August
Besides New Mexico, Florida was the only other state that did not sign the settlement, which included an agreement to release Meta from future liability related to the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach.
asserted
which → sign → breach
During the trial, jurors assessed whether Facebook misled users about privacy and content moderation 34 separate times.
asserted
Facebook → assess → privacy
State prosecutors, though, argued Facebook’s statements deceived the entire population of New Mexico and extended beyond social media users.
asserted
statements → argue → users
In the end, jurors agreed with this premise and found Facebook liable for 2.1 million violations on certain counts, bringing the total number of violations to over 43 million.
asserted
Facebook → agree → million
Facebook's attorneys have argued in subsequent court filings that the state's consumer protection laws don't apply to people in New Mexico who weren't using the platform at the time.
asserted
who → argue → time
Torrez told reporters following the verdict that all money awarded will go into a fund for the state’s education system.
asserted
money → tell → system
The state is also seeking an injunction to stop similar practices.
asserted
state → seek → practices
In appealing the jury's verdict, Meta might reduce the number of violations and therefore the total financial penalty.
uncertain
Meta → appeal → violations
Lawyers for the company said it was unprecedented for the state to count the number of violations based on how many individuals may have heard or seen the misleading statements from the company, arguing there was no evidence these statements ever harmed anyone.
uncertain
statements → say → anyone
During closing arguments, lawyers for Facebook said the state’s evidence was outdated and that despite having five years to gather material, New Mexico found only one other instance of a data breach.
asserted
Mexico → say → breach
In one of the few wins for the defense, jurors found the state didn’t prove that Facebook made false claims about removing harmful content, including misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic.
uncertain
Facebook → find → pandemic
The state said the company favored certain accounts and allowed for violent or inaccurate content to proliferate.
asserted
content → say → accounts
Attorney Randi McGinn said in her closing argument for the state that Facebook profited off harmful content, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied during his video deposition.
asserted
Zuckerberg → say → deposition
Zuckerberg said the company has to carefully balance freedom of speech with content moderation.
asserted
company → say → moderation
Attorneys for Facebook said the company has adapted its policies since the state’s lawsuit was filed in 2021 and that it removes 99% of content that violates standards.
asserted
that → say → standards
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
