A Santa Fe jury has found that Facebook, now Meta Platforms, broke New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act 43,899,725 times — a count that puts the theoretical maximum penalty near $219.5 billion, none of which is set to reach Facebook users. The September 25, 2026 verdict decides liability only. A judge will pick the penalty later, and because this is a state enforcement case rather than a class action, there is no claim form for anyone to file.
Status: Liability verdict, penalty phase pending | Verdict September 25, 2026 | Up to $5,000 per willful violation | Nothing for consumers to claim
Where 43.9 Million Violations Came From
The number looks enormous because of how the jury counted. According to Bloomberg Law, jurors found between 1.3 million and 2.1 million violations for each misleading statement, figures that track either the number of Facebook users in New Mexico or the state’s total 2020 population. Multiply a count that size across every statement the jury found misleading and the total climbs into the tens of millions.
That approach fits the State’s trial theory. New Mexico argued that Facebook’s statements reached all of the state’s more than 2 million residents, not only the people whose data was harvested in the Cambridge Analytica episode. According to the New Mexico Department of Justice, the jury found the violations willful and found that Facebook knowingly made false or misleading statements or acted unconscionably.
The Ceiling Is Not the Bill
Under the Unfair Practices Act, a court may impose a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for each willful violation. At that maximum, 43,899,725 violations come to about $219.5 billion. Attorney General Raúl Torrez told reporters the State will ask for the maximum, but the actual figure is left to the discretion of Judge Francis Mathew, and the statutory cap is a ceiling rather than a forecast.
The State also wants an injunction barring Facebook from similar practices going forward. The Associated Press reported that Torrez expected a decision within weeks. As of September 26, 2026, the penalty hearing had not been scheduled.
Meta disagrees with the verdict. A company spokesperson said it will keep defending itself and cited a First Amendment right to manage its platforms. At trial, Facebook’s lawyers argued that the State’s evidence was outdated and that the company has changed its policies since the suit was filed.
Three Kinds of Statements on Trial
The State challenged public statements by Facebook and its executives in three areas, and the jury found violations in each:
- Data privacy — assurances that users controlled how their information was shared, that Facebook did not sell or provide personal information to advertisers, and that it did not buy or sell user data.
- Misinformation and hate speech — statements that Facebook did not profit from misinformation or hate, removed harmful misinformation, had no incentive to keep hateful content, and enforced its Community Standards evenly, with no special protections for particular groups and no exceptions for politicians or newsworthiness.
- The app investigation after Cambridge Analytica — promises to investigate apps that had pulled large amounts of user data, run forensic audits, ban developers who misused data, and notify people whose information may have been affected.
What the Jury Rejected
The State did not win on every point. Reuters reported that jurors found 26 of the 29 statements identified by the State misleading, while Bloomberg Law and the Associated Press described 34 statements on the verdict sheet. All three outlets agree that the jury rejected the State’s claims about Facebook’s content-removal statements, including those about removing graphic content, hate speech and COVID-19 misinformation.
The Case Behind the Verdict
The case is State of New Mexico v. Facebook, Inc., No. D-101-CV-2021-00132, in the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico, Santa Fe County. The New Mexico Department of Justice filed it on January 21, 2021, trial began September 8, 2026, and the verdict came after two weeks. Jurors watched video depositions of Mark Zuckerberg and former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. The Department of Justice calls it the first state-led case of its kind to reach a jury verdict.
The underlying events date to 2013 through 2015, when researcher Aleksandr Kogan ran a personality-quiz app called “thisisyourdigitallife.” About 270,000 people took the quiz, but the platform also let the app collect data on their friends. The State says data on about 87 million users worldwide was gathered, including roughly 70 million Americans and nearly 350,000 New Mexicans. Kogan sold the data to Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct political consulting firm whose clients included Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The State says Facebook knew of the sale by December 2015; the public learned of it in March 2018 through a whistleblower, and Facebook notified affected users the next month.
Why New Mexico Was Still in Court
Most states resolved their Cambridge Analytica-era claims without a trial. Meta’s August 2026 multistate settlement, roughly $17 billion over child safety on Instagram and Facebook, included a separate $459,293,017.80 payment to resolve those claims for 46 states and two territories in exchange for a broad release. According to Bloomberg Law, New Mexico and Washington, D.C. stayed out of that release. The District of Columbia’s own case against Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg remains pending.
Where Users Fit In
They do not, financially. Meta did not settle this case; the State is the only plaintiff; no class was certified; and any civil penalty is a fine paid to New Mexico, which Torrez has said would go to a fund for the state’s education system. The multistate $459 million payment is likewise paid to the states and territories, not to individuals.
The only Cambridge Analytica-era case that paid users directly was the $725 million consumer class action, In re Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, which received final approval in October 2023. Its claim deadline has passed, and this verdict neither reopens it nor adds to its payments. The same scandal also produced a $5 billion Federal Trade Commission penalty and a $100 million Securities and Exchange Commission settlement in 2019, and a $190 million Delaware shareholder settlement in July 2025.
Do not confuse this case with New Mexico’s child-safety lawsuit against Meta, No. D-101-CV-2023-02838, filed in 2023. There a jury awarded $375 million in March 2026, and in August 2026 the judge added a $567 million abatement fund and new protections for minors, for $942 million in total. The OpenClassActions.com report on the Cambridge Analytica verdict will track the penalty phase as it is scheduled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get money from the New Mexico Facebook verdict?
No. State of New Mexico v. Facebook is an enforcement action brought by the New Mexico Department of Justice, not a class action. There is no class, no claim form and no payment to users. Any civil penalty is paid to the State, and Attorney General Raul Torrez has said the money would go to a fund for the state’s education system.
How much will Meta have to pay?
That has not been decided. The jury found 43,899,725 violations and the Unfair Practices Act allows up to $5,000 per willful violation, about $219.5 billion at the maximum. Judge Francis Mathew will set the actual amount at his discretion in a later phase. Meta says it disagrees with the verdict.
Why is the violation count so high?
Bloomberg Law reported that the jury found between 1.3 million and 2.1 million violations for each misleading statement, figures that track either the number of Facebook users in New Mexico or the state’s 2020 population.
Did the jury agree with the State on everything?
No. Reuters reported that jurors found 26 of the 29 statements identified by the State misleading, and outlets agree the jury rejected the State’s claims about Facebook’s content-removal statements, including those on graphic content, hate speech and COVID-19 misinformation.
Does this affect the $725 million Facebook privacy settlement?
No. That was a separate consumer class action in federal court in California. Its claim deadline has passed, and the New Mexico verdict does not reopen it or change its payments.
Is this the same as New Mexico’s $375 million Meta verdict?
No. The $375 million verdict came in a separate 2023 child-safety case, No. D-101-CV-2023-02838. The Cambridge Analytica case is No. D-101-CV-2021-00132, filed January 21, 2021.
Sources
- New Mexico Department of Justice — Jury Finds Facebook Violated New Mexico Consumer Protection Law (September 25, 2026), with the redacted jury form.
- New Mexico Department of Justice — pre-trial fact sheet on State of New Mexico v. Facebook.
- State of New Mexico v. Facebook, Inc., No. D-101-CV-2021-00132, First Judicial District Court of New Mexico, Santa Fe County.
- Reuters — Meta misled consumers in case over Cambridge Analytica scandal, New Mexico jury says (September 25, 2026).
- Bloomberg Law — Meta loses New Mexico trial over Cambridge Analytica data (September 25, 2026).
- Associated Press, via the Tri-City Record — New Mexico jury finds Facebook liable for deceiving users about privacy protections (September 25, 2026).
- OpenClassActions.com — Facebook Faces Max $219.5 Billion Penalty After New Mexico Cambridge Analytica Verdict.
Source and credit: this report builds on our sister site’s coverage — OpenClassActions.com: Facebook Faces Max $219.5 Billion Penalty After New Mexico Cambridge Analytica Verdict — which follows the case and is updated as new filings, orders and payment news come in.
Legal Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. OpenClassActions.org is a consumer news site, not a law firm, and is not affiliated with any party to the matters described. Allegations are allegations until a court rules on them, and court schedules and outcomes can change.