NEWS | A judge in New Mexico has ordered Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to pay $25 billion. The decision came on October 21, 2026. A jury had already found in September that Meta misled people about how their personal information on Facebook was handled. It is the biggest fine ever given to the company.
The case began in 2021, when New Mexico sued Meta. It goes back to a scandal where a political consulting company got hold of information from millions of Facebook users and used it for targeted ads. The state said Meta told people their information was protected when it was not. The jury counted more than 43 million broken rules. Each one can cost up to $5,000, which added up to about $219.5 billion. The judge cut it to $25 billion, which is still less than the state asked for. He also said the misleading was deliberate, lasted more than a decade and involved top company leaders.
Where the money goes
The state’s attorney general says all of it goes to New Mexico’s school system. Meta must also pay 15 percent extra for every year the bill stays unpaid. Meta says it does not sell user data and that the state never proved anyone was truly misled. Its top lawyer said the ruling makes it nearly impossible to do business in the state, and the company plans to appeal, which means asking a higher court to change the decision. The last record fine against Meta was $5 billion from the US government in 2019. That earlier fine was also about how the company handled user data.
BMN’s view. The final bill could still change if the appeal works. Even so, one state taking on a giant company alone and winning this much may push other states to try the same. For everyday users, it shows that privacy promises can be checked in court, even years later.
Would you still trust a company with your information after it was caught misleading people?
