A judge on Wednesday ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $25 billion, following a jury's September verdict that found the company liable for deceiving users about privacy and content moderation policies on Facebook. The substantial penalty was handed down by Judge Francis Mathew.

State Attorney General Raúl Torrez characterized the judgment as potentially the largest state verdict against a company in American history. He stated that the ruling serves as a significant warning to technology companies regarding their accountability. Under New Mexico's constitution, funds collected from consumer protection law violations are allocated to state education.

The jury found Meta responsible for over 43 million violations of New Mexico's consumer protection laws. These violations stemmed from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where a political consulting firm harvested Facebook user data to create targeted political advertisements for the 2016 election. While 48 other states settled with Facebook in a broader, nationwide case, New Mexico pursued its claim independently.

Attorneys for New Mexico had initially sought between $35 billion and $40 billion, arguing that only a penalty impacting its stock price would compel Meta to change its practices. Conversely, Meta's legal team proposed a payment of no more than $3.4 billion, asserting that a higher amount would be unconstitutional and violate due process.

Meta's defense contended that the state failed to prove misleading statements about privacy and argued that content moderation practices actually harmed New Mexicans. The company has previously stated its intention to appeal the September verdict. Representatives for Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the imposed penalty.

The state's case centered on allegations that Facebook misled users about a data breach initiated by a third-party personality quiz. This quiz collected data from approximately 87 million user profiles, which was subsequently sold to Cambridge Analytica. The firm's clientele included the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

New Mexico's legal team argued that the deception extended to the entire state population, not just Facebook users, based on the company's public statements regarding platform privacy. Meta's lawyers countered that the state did not demonstrate actual harm to individuals resulting from these alleged deceptive statements.

Meta, headquartered in Menlo Park, California, was scheduled to release its quarterly earnings on Wednesday afternoon. The company's shares saw a 2% increase following the announcement of the penalty. The potential for an appeal means the substantial sum could be tied up in legal proceedings for an extended period.