A New Mexico jury found Meta willfully violated state law on every count, ordering a $375 million penalty calculated at the maximum $5,000 per violation across 37,500 violations on two counts. The jury rejected Meta's defense entirely. The state had sought closer to $2 billion.
The verdict came one day after closing arguments. New Mexico's case centered on Meta misleading consumers about product safety and facilitating child predatory behavior on its platforms, framing both as violations of state consumer protection law.
The speed of the verdict and the unanimous rejection of Meta's position on all counts is what makes the full story worth reading. This is the first major jury verdict of its kind against Meta, and the legal framework New Mexico used could become a template for other states.
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