• by Wendy Davis , October 1, 2026

New Mexico on Thursday urged a judge to fine Meta Platforms between $35 billion and $40 billion in the wake of a jury's finding that the company violated the state's consumer protection law by misleading consumers about Facebook's privacy practices and content policies.

"This court should speak to Meta in the only language it understands, which is money and the value of its stock price," Randi McGinn, an attorney representing the state Department of Justice, argued to Judge Francis Mathew in Santa Fe during a hearing that lasted for nearly 90 minutes and livestreamed by the local channel KRQE News 13.

An attorney for Meta countered that the "astronomical penalty" sought by the state "would obviously violate a host of constitutional provisions," including clauses in the U.S. and New Mexico constitutions that prohibit excessive fines.

Mathew didn't announce a decision Thursday.

The hearing came one week after a jury determined Meta made numerous false or deceptive representations to users, including about privacy.

One representation found to be misleading was Mark Zuckerberg's 2010 statement, "You have control over how your information is shared. We do not share your personal information with people or services you don't want."

The jury found Meta committed around 2.1 violations of New Mexico law based on that statement alone, based on the premise that the audience for the statement was the state's 2.1 million residents. 

Much of the trial testimony reportedly focused on data harvesting by the defunct political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, which purchased personal information of millions Facebook users from Alexsandr Kogan.

Kogan collected the information in 2014 via his personality quiz app "thisisyourdigitallife." Only around 270,000 Facebook users downloaded that app, but Kogan was able to gather information about at least 87 million of those users' friends.

In addition to statements about privacy, Meta also was found to have made false or deceptive representations about its content policies, including that it doesn't allow "hate speech" on the platform.

Jurors specifically found Meta committed more than 43 million violations of New Mexico's consumer protection law. The state consumer protection law provides for damages of up to $5,000 per violation.

Meta said last week that it disagrees with the verdict.

"Meta's platforms are forums for free expression," a spokesperson said. "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."