New Mexico Jury Finds Facebook Liable for Deceiving Users, More Than 43 Million Violations
A New Mexico jury found Facebook liable for deceiving users about privacy protections and more than 43 million violations of state law, including misleading statements tied to Cambridge Analytica.
The verdict followed a two-week trial over a lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez in 2021, Reuters reported, three years after news reports revealed that Cambridge Analytica had harvested personal data from as many as 87 million Facebook users through a third-party app. Jurors found 26 of 29 statements identified by the state were misleading, including comments about user data. Judge Francis Mathew will now determine civil penalties after jurors found more than 43 million violations, based on the number of people affected by the company's misleading statements.
The jury also found the company had been dishonest about its investigation of and response to the 2013 Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal, according to the reports. In that episode, approximately 300,000 Facebook users took an online personality quiz, and the app that hosted the quiz harvested data from tens of millions of their friends, the reports said. The data was transferred to Cambridge Analytica, a British consulting firm, which used it to create targeted political ads during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
At a press conference after the verdict, Torrez said the case revealed "in stark detail the way in which this company plays fast and loose with the rules." He said his office is evaluating how much to seek in penalties but will push for the maximum penalty based on the jury's findings. The state will also ask Judge Mathew to direct Meta to make changes, which could include corrections to its past misstatements as well as an audit of the way it manages user data. Slashdot reported that a New Mexico newspaper described the outcome as "another massive legal victory" against Facebook.