Article

【Meta New Mexico privacy case lost, potentially facing the highest 219000000000 USD fine】September 26, a New Mexico, U.S. jury ruled that Meta engaged in deceptive conduct toward the public regarding speech and data privacy policies, violating state law,Meta thereby making this the highest legal cost it has faced to date in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. State Attorney General Raúl Torrez called the ruling a “milestone moment” in holding a technology giant accountable and will ask the court to impose the maximum on Meta of up to 219000000000 USD civil penalty. The jury found that, among the statements listed in the verdict, 34 was responsible for most of them, with each violation occurring between Meta and 1300000 times, corresponding to the number of Facebook users in New Mexico or 2100000 the state’s total population in 2020; each violation may incur a maximum 5000 USD fine, with the final amount to be determined by Francis Mathew, judge of the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe. According to BIT(bit.com) market data, after the news was announced,Meta closed down 3.33%on Friday. The case stems from the Cambridge Analytica scandal exposed in 2018; a data scientist developed a seemingly harmless survey app that in fact collected information on Facebook users and their friends, ultimately involving 87000000 user profiles. Cambridge Analytica used the data for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Previously,Meta had paid approximately 6000000000 USD in total settlements, with the agreements involving the Federal Trade Commission, Facebook user groups, and a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general. New Mexico and Washington, D.C., were the only two jurisdictions that did not join the coalition’s settlement. A Meta spokesperson objected to the judgment, saying it would continue to defend itself, and cited the First Amendment to emphasize its right to manage the platform in the manner it believes best serves the community, prioritizing freedom of speech, protecting user information, and giving users control over their data. Notably, 219000000000 USD is the theoretical maximum fine; the actual amount depends on the judge’s final discretion.