New Mexico jury rules Meta misled state residents about data privacy

A New Mexico jury has found Meta violated the state's Unfair Practices Act and misled residents about their privacy and how the company handles misinformation, Reuters reports. The trial was the result of a 2021 lawsuit filed by the state in response to Meta's Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which data harvested from Facebook was used to target political advertising during the 2016 election.

The state's original lawsuit claimed that Meta misrepresented what it let third-party apps do with its data, maintained privacy settings that were unclear or vague and falsely said it applied policies around hate speech equally to everyone, among other issues. Reuters writes that Meta's lawyers admitted the company had made mistakes with how it handled misinformation and privacy in the past, but denied it sold users' data or that it benefited from hate speech.

A judge has yet to rule how much Meta will be fined. In a statement to Engadget, a Meta spokesperson said, "We disagree with the verdict and will continue to defend ourselves against efforts to distort our record. Meta's platforms are forums for free expression. We have a First Amendment right to manage those platforms in a way we believe best serves the interests of our community. This means prioritizing free speech, protecting our users' information and giving them control over their data."

Cambridge Analytica scraping and using information from 50 million Facebook users largely without their consent is one of several black marks on Meta's resume, one it conveniently distanced itself from by rebranding to Meta in 2021. The company has reached multiple settlement agreements in response to Cambridge Analytica in the US, UK and Australia. Most recently, it settled with 47 US states over child safety concerns in an $18 billion settlement that included a $459 million payment to specifically resolve existing Cambridge Analytica lawsuits, Reuters writes. New Mexico and Florida declined to participate in that part of the settlement, which allowed this trial to happen and a jury to ultimately side against Meta again.

Update September 26 2026, 1:14PM ET: This article has been updated to include a statement from Meta.