Jury finds Meta violated New Mexico law

A New Mexico jury has found Meta violated the state's Unfair Practices Act and misled residents about their privacy and how the company handles misinformation, Reuters reports.

The lawsuit stems from Cambridge Analytica

The trial resulted from a two thousand twenty-one lawsuit filed by New Mexico in response to Meta's Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which data harvested from Facebook was used to target political advertising during the two thousand sixteen election.

Meta's specific violations alleged

New Mexico claimed Meta misrepresented what third-party apps could do with its data, maintained unclear privacy settings, and falsely said it applied hate speech policies equally to everyone.

Meta admits past mistakes but denies key charges

Meta's lawyers admitted the company made mistakes with misinformation and privacy handling in the past but denied it sold users' data or benefited from hate speech.

Meta defends its platform management rights

Meta stated it disagrees with the verdict and claims a First Amendment right to manage platforms prioritizing free speech, protecting user information and giving them control over their data.

“We have a First Amendment right to manage those platforms in a way we believe best serves the interests of our community.”

New Mexico rejected larger settlement deal

New Mexico and Florida declined to participate in a forty-seven state settlement over child safety concerns, allowing this trial to proceed. A judge has yet to rule on Meta's fine.