New Mexico jury finds Meta misled residents on data sharing and moderation

On September 25, 2026, a New Mexico jury found Meta committed more than 43 million Unfair Practices Act violations. The two-week Santa Fe trial followed a 2021 lawsuit after reports that Cambridge Analytica obtained data from up to 87 million Facebook users. Judge Francis Mathew will set penalties; the state sought $5,000 per violation. State attorney Randi McGinn said: "What this jury has said is that after 16 years of Facebook lying to New Mexicans and telling them their data was safe when they were taking all of their private thoughts and selling it to other people. Somebody finally stood up to them and said 'we are not going to put up with that.'" Meta denied selling user data and said the state omitted context. A Meta spokesperson said: "We disagree with the verdict and will continue to defend ourselves against efforts to distort our record. Meta's platforms are forums for free expression. We have a First Amendment right to manage those platforms in a way we believe best serves the interests of our community. This means prioritizing free speech, protecting our users' information and giving them control over their data." Penalties remain undecided.