A New Mexico jury has found Facebook liable for tens of millions of violations of the state's consumer protection law, potentially exposing the social media platform to billions of dollars in fines.
A Santa Fe jury on Friday found Facebook committed over 43.8 million violations of New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act through false or misleading statements to consumers, according to the state Department of Justice.
"The verdict marks a significant victory for New Mexico consumers and holds one of the world's largest technology companies accountable for its conduct," the department said.
The verdict followed a roughly two-week trial stemming from a lawsuit New Mexico filed in 2021 over Facebook's handling of user data and statements it made to consumers.
As Bill Pan reports further for The Epoch Times, the case traces back to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the now-defunct British political consulting firm obtained personal information from as many as 87 million Facebook users and used the data for political profiling and targeted advertising.
New Mexico alleged that Facebook misled users about how their personal information could be shared with third parties and the extent of users' control over their data.
The state also challenged statements Facebook made after the Cambridge Analytica disclosures. Facebook said it would investigate applications that had obtained large amounts of user information, audit suspic
