A New Mexico judge on Wednesday ordered Meta Platforms to pay $25 billion in civil penalties after a jury found the company misled Facebook users about the privacy of their data. The state calls it one of the largest penalties ever imposed on a corporation, and it lands less than a week before Meta goes back to trial in Los Angeles over claims that Instagram and Facebook were designed to hook children and teenagers.
First Judicial District Judge Francis Mathew issued the order on October 21, 2026, in a lawsuit the New Mexico Department of Justice filed in 2021 after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Meta has said it will appeal.
What the Santa Fe jury found
In late September, a Santa Fe jury found that Facebook violated the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act, the state’s consumer protection law, close to 44 million times. Jurors sided with the state on 31 of 34 counts, Source New Mexico reported.
The jury found that Facebook made false or misleading statements about how much control users had over their data, about its efforts against hate speech and misinformation, about whether it applied its community standards evenly, and about its promise to investigate thoroughly after Cambridge Analytica used Facebook user data to target political ads in the 2016 election.
Forty-eight other states settled with Facebook over similar allegations. New Mexico stayed out of that settlement and took its case to trial.
How the judge reached $25 billion
The Unfair Practices Act allows a penalty of up to $5,000 per violation, which put the maximum at about $219.5 billion. The state asked for $35 billion to $40 billion. Meta asked the court to cap the penalty at about $3.45 billion, arguing that it does not sell user data and that New Mexico never proved any consumer was actually misled.
Judge Mathew found the trial record supported the highest level of penalty, citing the number of willful violations, how long they continued, the involvement of senior Facebook leadership and the size of the New Mexico audience reached. He set the award at $25 billion, which accrues interest at 15 percent a year until it is paid.
Meta’s chief legal officer, C.J. Mahoney, said the ruling makes it “all but impossible to do business” in New Mexico and that the company expects to win on appeal.
A year of courtroom losses for Meta
The privacy judgment is separate from New Mexico’s child safety case against Meta. In March, another Santa Fe jury found that Meta violated the same consumer protection law by misleading the public about risks to young users’ mental health and about child sexual exploitation on Facebook and Instagram, and set civil penalties at $375 million. In August, a judge ordered Meta to pay another $567 million toward youth mental health programs, bringing that case to about $942 million.
Also in March, a Los Angeles jury in the first social media addiction trial found Meta and YouTube negligent in the design and operation of their platforms. The jury awarded the plaintiff, a 20-year-old California woman identified as K.G.M., $6 million, half of it punitive damages, and assigned Meta 70 percent of the responsibility.
In August, Meta reached an agreement with attorneys general across the country to resolve claims that it designed Instagram and Facebook to be addictive for young users. The states announced it as worth up to $17.1 billion, and Meta’s SEC filings put the total at up to about $18.6 billion. Meta also agreed to change features for users under 18. New Mexico and Florida were not part of that agreement, and the settlement has no claim form for families.
Next up, the October 28 trial in Los Angeles
The next personal injury trial in California’s coordinated social media cases (JCCP 5255) is set to begin October 28, 2026, in Los Angeles Superior Court. Judge Carolyn Kuhl ordered the claims of two teenage plaintiffs tried together before one jury. TikTok and YouTube settled with both plaintiffs, leaving Meta and Snap to defend the case, and Mark Zuckerberg has been ordered to testify.
Thousands of similar claims by families and school districts are pending in the federal multidistrict litigation, In re Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (MDL 3047), before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland.
Neither the New Mexico penalties nor the state attorney general settlement pays individual families. Those families pursue their own claims, and each must show how a platform’s design contributed to a young person’s injuries. Our social media addiction lawsuit update tracks every trial, verdict and settlement.
Common Questions About the $25 Billion Meta Ruling
Does the $25 billion go to Facebook users?
No. The award is a civil penalty paid to the State of New Mexico under its consumer protection law. It is not a class action settlement, and Facebook users do not file claims for a share of it.
Is this ruling part of the social media addiction lawsuits?
No. This case was about Facebook’s privacy and content statements tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. New Mexico’s separate child safety case against Meta, which addressed youth mental health and child exploitation, has produced about $942 million in penalties and payments.
Is there a social media addiction class action?
Many people search for a social media addiction class action, but the personal injury claims are a mass tort. Each family files its own lawsuit, and the cases are grouped for pretrial proceedings in the federal MDL in California and in the coordinated state court proceeding in Los Angeles. Each claim is valued on the young person’s own injuries.
What happens next in the New Mexico privacy case?
Meta has said it will appeal. Interest on the $25 billion accrues at 15 percent a year while the judgment remains unpaid.
When is the next social media addiction trial?
A consolidated trial of two teenage plaintiffs’ claims is set to begin October 28, 2026, in Los Angeles Superior Court. Meta and Snap are the remaining defendants.
Doyle APC handles social media addiction lawsuits together with experienced co-counsel.
See If You Qualify for Social Media Addiction Compensation
Doyle APC handles social media addiction claims nationwide together with experienced co-counsel, for young people and families harmed by Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat or YouTube. Many people with claims are now adults who can file on their own. There are no fees or costs unless there is a recovery.
"*" indicates required fields
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day by calling or texting 988.
