Meta ordered to pay $25B in New Mexico privacy case — largest privacy verdict in US history

#What happened

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion on Oct 21, 2026, after a Santa Fe jury found the company systematically misled consumers about data privacy. Jurors found 26 of 29 examined statements by Meta and its leadership misleading, tallying more than 43 million violations of New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act at up to $5,000 each — a statutory ceiling above $219 billion, which Judge Francis Mathew cut down to $25 billion. The case stems from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which as many as 87 million Facebook users' data was harvested through a third-party app. The full penalty goes to New Mexico's public school system. New Mexico's attorney general Raúl Torrez sued in 2021; at the Oct 1 sentencing hearing the state asked for $35-40 billion while Meta lobbied for a $3.45 billion cap. Meta says the ruling makes it "all but impossible to do business" in New Mexico and that it will prevail on appeal. This is the second Santa Fe jury verdict against Meta in six months — a March verdict found Meta misled users about young users' safety and ordered $375 million in penalties plus $567 million for teen mental health.

#Why it matters

Meta is pushing Muse, its always-on AI agent, deeper into consumers' daily lives — the same trust questions now carry a $25 billion price tag. For an agent race that depends on users handing agents their data, regulators are treating privacy promises as the product's load-bearing wall.

Verified October 22, 2026.