A judge in New Mexico has ordered Meta Platforms to pay the US state $25bn following a judicial finding that the corporation intentionally misled consumers regarding the confidentiality of their personal data. In his written order, Judge Francis Mathew emphasized that Facebook’s systemic wrongdoing over several years struck at the core of the digital conglomerate's business practices.

Although the judge noted that state law could have warranted a penalty exceeding $219bn, the figure was ultimately reduced to $25bn. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez hailed the judgment as one of the largest single-state verdicts against a corporate entity in United States history, suggesting it should serve as an unambiguous message to Silicon Valley.

Representatives for the US regime, however, strongly condemned the ruling, with Meta Chief Legal Officer CJ Mahoney expressing confidence that the company will prevail on appeal. Mahoney asserted that the judicial decision makes conducting business in New Mexico virtually impossible and alleged that the lawsuit essentially seeks to impose ideological restrictions on online speech.

The legal battle originated from a 2021 lawsuit filed after revelations concerning the harvesting of personal data by the defunct political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. State prosecutors accused Meta of deceiving users about data access protocols and tolerating harmful content and misinformation to protect its financial bottom line, compounding the corporation's ongoing regulatory challenges.

Source: www.aljazeera.com