Jury Finds Meta Misled New Mexico Residents on Data Privacy and Content Policies

A state jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico, found on Friday that Meta Platforms (META) misled residents in a lawsuit concerning the company's data privacy practices and content policies. The verdict follows a two-week trial for a lawsuit originally filed by New Mexico's attorney general in 2021.

The Jury's Findings

The case centered on Meta's handling of user data in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which was first reported in 2018. In that incident, the political consulting firm, which worked on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, improperly accessed personal data from as many as 87 million Facebook users via a third-party application.

The lawsuit brought by New Mexico claimed Meta made misleading public statements about several key issues:

• How it shared users' personal information with third parties.
• Its platform's management of hate speech and misinformation.
• Whether it applied its content policies uniformly to all users.

Arguments at Trial

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Attorneys for New Mexico argued that statements from Meta, including those by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and in company blog posts, led users to believe they had control over their personal data. The state contended that Meta allowed third-party apps to access this information and benefited financially from the spread of hate speech or misinformation, while also maintaining policy exceptions for certain high-profile users.

In its defense, Meta's legal team argued that the statements presented by the state were excerpts taken out of context. The company's attorneys asserted that Meta has consistently worked to improve its privacy and content moderation systems and does not benefit from harmful content. Meta has also maintained that it does not sell user information.

Next Steps and Context

Following the jury's verdict, the case will proceed to Judge Francis Mathew, who is tasked with determining the monetary penalties Meta will be required to pay for the violations. This ruling adds to the ongoing legal and regulatory scrutiny the social media giant faces over its data handling and platform governance, issues that remain a key concern for investors and regulators alike.