Meta disputes New Mexico's $25 billion penalty over Facebook statements
New Mexico imposes a $25 billion penalty for misleading Facebook statements. The state calls it accountability for consumer-protection violations. Meta criticizes the enforcement approach and says it expects to prevail on appeal.
Case period:
Published by The Dispute Index editorial teamPublished Updated
Overview
A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion following a jury verdict on misleading consumer representations. Attorney General Raúl Torrez calls the penalty accountability for violations of state law. Meta calls the case a tax on speech and says it expects to prevail on appeal.
Read the full background
The dispute concerns the $25 billion civil penalty and its justification, not whether the court issued it.
Judge Francis J. Mathew's October 21 judgment follows a verdict finding 43,899,720 willful unfair-or-deceptive-practice violations and five willful unconscionable-practice violations. The count reflects statements and their expected audiences, not that many distinct New Mexico residents. The case arose from the Cambridge Analytica scandal but covers 26 representations from 2010 to 2021 about data practices, misinformation, hate speech and equal enforcement.
The court calculated $219,498,600,000 in civil penalties and reduced the award to $25 billion, with 15% annual interest until paid. It reserved injunctive relief for further briefing. Meta disputes the enforcement approach and anticipates an appeal.
Timeline
2 timeline entries on this page. Dates: October 21, 2026
October 2026
Judge sets a $25 billion civil penalty
The judgment reduces a $219,498,600,000 calculation to $25 billion, orders 15% annual interest until payment and reserves injunctive relief.
[01]New Mexico court's Facebook findings and $25 billion judgment
The signed judgment distinguishes the jury's liability findings from the court's civil-penalty award. It concerns the privacy and consumer-representations case.
New Mexico court's Facebook findings and $25 billion judgmentD-101-CV-2021-00132, pages 1-4 and 16-20State and Meta give opposing responses to the penalty
Reaction
New Mexico DOJ defends the award as accountability. Meta criticizes the enforcement approach and anticipates prevailing on appeal.
[02]New Mexico Department of Justice
The attorney general presents the judgment as consumer accountability. The release comes from the party that brought the case.
New Mexico DOJ statement on the Facebook penalty · New Mexico Department of JusticeAttorney General Raúl Torrez's statements following the penalty order[03]Axios reports Meta's response to the New Mexico penalty
Axios quotes Meta's chief legal officer criticizing the case and saying the company expects to prevail on appeal.
Axios reports Meta's response to the New Mexico penaltyC.J. Mahoney's emailed statement to Axios
Claims
Claims separate what was said from what is contested. Follow each source for the original wording and context.
What's disputed
Disputed claim
New Mexico Department of Justice
The $25 billion penalty is justified by Meta's repeated, willful consumer-protection violations.
Sources (2)
- New Mexico court's Facebook findings and $25 billion judgmentD-101-CV-2021-00132, pages 1-4 and 16-20
- New Mexico DOJ statement on the Facebook penalty · New Mexico Department of JusticeAttorney General Raúl Torrez's statements following the penalty order
Response record
Responses
Choose one response filter, or select All responses to see the full record.
2 responses. Newest first.
New Mexico Department of JusticeAttorney General Raúl Torrez, speaking for New Mexico DOJDirectly involved Before this statement
Torrez speaks after the court's $25 billion penalty order.
"Today’s result makes clear that no corporation is too powerful to be held accountable."
Defended or excusedResponding to: The $25 billion penalty is justified by Meta's repeated, willful consumer-protection violations.
Full statement and sources
New Mexico DOJ defends the penalty as accountability for consumer-protection violations.
After the statement
Meta disputes the enforcement approach and says it expects to prevail on appeal.
New Mexico DOJ statement on the Facebook penalty · New Mexico Department of JusticeAttorney General Raúl Torrez's statements following the penalty orderNew Mexico court's Facebook findings and $25 billion judgmentD-101-CV-2021-00132, pages 1-4 and 16-20Axios reports Meta's response to the New Mexico penaltyC.J. Mahoney's emailed statement to AxiosWhy this label?
The department supports the penalty that this case examines.
This label describes the statement's response within the context above.
Meta PlatformsChief legal officer C.J. Mahoney, speaking for Meta in an emailed statementDirectly involvedBefore this statement
In an emailed statement to Axios, Mahoney says the ruling and the attorney general's approach to enforcement make it all but impossible to do business in New Mexico.
"At its core, this lawsuit seeks to impose a tax on speech to enforce new rules for what people can say online."
CondemnedResponding to: The $25 billion penalty is justified by Meta's repeated, willful consumer-protection violations.
Full statement and sources
Meta calls the New Mexico lawsuit a tax on speech.
After the statement
He says Meta expects to prevail on appeal.
Axios reports Meta's response to the New Mexico penaltyC.J. Mahoney's emailed statement to AxiosNew Mexico court's Facebook findings and $25 billion judgmentD-101-CV-2021-00132, pages 1-4 and 16-20New Mexico DOJ statement on the Facebook penalty · New Mexico Department of JusticeAttorney General Raúl Torrez's statements following the penalty orderWhy this label?
Relative to the $25 billion penalty and the case for it, Meta criticizes the lawsuit behind the penalty as a tax on speech. The objection targets the enforcement itself, so it goes beyond disputing how the state describes the case.
This label describes the statement's response within the context above.
Sources
(3)
Original text
New Mexico court's Facebook findings and $25 billion judgment
Relevant passage: D-101-CV-2021-00132, pages 1-4 and 16-20
About this source
The signed judgment distinguishes the jury's liability findings from the court's civil-penalty award. It concerns the privacy and consumer-representations case.
- Author
- Francis J. Mathew
- Published
- Accessed
Reporting
Axios reports Meta's response to the New Mexico penalty
Relevant passage: C.J. Mahoney's emailed statement to Axios
About this source
Axios quotes Meta's chief legal officer criticizing the case and saying the company expects to prevail on appeal.
- Author
- Josephine Walker
- Published
- Accessed
Official statement
New Mexico DOJ statement on the Facebook penalty
Relevant passage: Attorney General Raúl Torrez's statements following the penalty order
About this source
The attorney general presents the judgment as consumer accountability. The release comes from the party that brought the case.
- Author
- Raúl Torrez
- Published
- Accessed
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Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Meta disputes New Mexico's $25 billion penalty over Facebook statements
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/cases/meta-new-mexico-25-billion-facebook-privacy-penalty
The Dispute Index. "Meta disputes New Mexico's $25 billion penalty over Facebook statements". First published: 2026-10-22. Last updated: 2026-10-22. https://disputeindex.com/cases/meta-new-mexico-25-billion-facebook-privacy-penalty