Judge to decide Meta penalty amount in New Mexico privacy lawsuit

New Mexico state lawyers have asked a judge to order Meta to pay up to $40 billion in fines. The request came on October 1, 2026, at a court hearing in Santa Fe. A jury decided on September 25 that Meta broke New Mexico's consumer protection law. The company misled users about how their personal data was handled. About 350,000 New Mexico residents had their data shared with Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, without their knowledge. Meta's lawyers argued the fine should be no more than $3.45 billion. They said the state did not prove that any user was actually harmed. Judge Francis Mathew will give his decision within three weeks.