Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion in New Mexico Cambridge Analytica Case

· Tech · United States

A New Mexico state judge on Wednesday ordered Meta Platforms to pay $25 billion in penalties in a ruling tied to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, according to a court judgment. The judge said the violations could have justified as much as $219.5 billion but set the penalty lower. Separately disclosed in Meta's third-quarter earnings, the company booked $9.89 billion for a chunk of a child-safety settlement with US attorneys general, and said operating income would have been $22.89 billion without that charge.

Why it matters：The penalty shows US states can impose billion-dollar data-privacy sanctions on platform companies, raising the legal cost of data handling and settlement exposure across the tech sector.

Key points

  • The judge said violations could have warranted $219.5 billion.
  • Meta recorded $9.89 billion for part of a child-safety settlement in Q3.
  • Meta said operating income would have been $22.89 billion excluding that charge.

Sources (original reporting)

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