Verified Evidence: resolved · Fact Lock: locked · QA: pass
A New Mexico state judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in a case concerning Facebook user privacy and platform policies, according to reports dated October 21, 2026. Variety reported that the order followed a jury finding that Meta was liable for deceiving users about those policies.

The order was issued in New Mexico after a jury found Meta liable the previous month, Variety reported. The case concerned allegations that Facebook users were deceived about the platform’s data-privacy and content-moderation policies. Variety identified Francis Mathew as the state judge who issued the order.

New Mexico pursued the litigation on its own while 48 other states settled their cases, according to Fortune. The reported outcome is variously described by the supplied publications as a judgment, fine or penalty, and the available evidence does not establish a more precise legal classification.

Meta plans to appeal the $25 billion judgment, Fortune reported. The available reporting does not specify the grounds or scope of that appeal, so its potential effect on the order remains unclear.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the verdict should serve as a warning to technology companies that the state will hold them accountable, according to PBS NewsHour. His statement framed the case as an enforcement message for the technology sector, without establishing any broader legal outcome beyond the order against Meta.

EL PAÍS reported that the judge said Facebook had misled users on up to 43 million occasions. That figure is attributed to EL PAÍS in the supplied evidence and is not independently corroborated by the other reports.

PBS NewsHour described the $25 billion outcome as Meta’s biggest fine ever, while EL PAÍS called it historic. Those descriptions indicate the scale of the reported action, but the supplied evidence does not establish a precise comparison with other legal outcomes.

SOURCES

  1. EL PAÍSMulta histórica para Meta: deberá pagar 25.000 millones de dólares en Nuevo México
  2. VarietyMeta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion in New Mexico Data Privacy Case
  3. PBS NewsHourMeta must pay New Mexico $25 billion, its biggest fine ever, for deceiving users about Facebook privacy
  4. FortuneNew Mexico took on Meta alone and won a $25 billion judgment over Facebook’s privacy violations