Jury finds Facebook liable for deceiving users in Cambridge Analytica case

A New Mexico jury found Facebook (Meta) liable for deceiving users about privacy protections tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, concluding the company misrepresented how it handled a third‑party personality quiz that harvested data from about 87 million profiles and funneled it to Cambridge Analytica for targeted political ads. After a two‑week trial in Santa Fe, jurors determined Facebook’s failures affected New Mexico’s entire population of more than two million people and ruled the company misled the public about investigations into data brokers, resulting in liability for over two million violations. Prosecutors asked the judge to impose the maximum $5,000 penalty per violation; the judge will set the final amount.

Meta disputes the verdict, arguing evidence is stale, asserting First Amendment and free‑speech defenses, and promising to continue fighting what it called distortions of its records. New Mexico pursued this case despite an August multistate settlement in which Meta agreed to pay up to about $18 billion and which included language releasing Meta from future Cambridge Analytica liability; New Mexico was one of the holdouts, along with Florida. The state has already won separate judgments totaling $942 million against Meta over safety protections for minors and secured court orders for age verification and time limits. Attorney General Raúl Torrez framed the verdict as a warning to tech companies that misleading New Mexicans about data use will be prosecuted.