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Meta Hit With $25B New Mexico Civil Penalty

By Drooid · Oct 23, 2026, 2:20 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Attorney General Raúl Torrez secured a $25 billion civil penalty against Meta Platforms in New Mexico.
A Santa Fe jury found Meta liable for over 43 million violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act.
Judge Francis J. Matthew capped the award at $25 billion after initially calculating more than $219 billion.
Meta announced it will appeal, saying the ruling threatens its ability to do business in New Mexico.
Private firm DiCello Levitt could earn up to $1.27 billion in fees if the full $25 billion is recovered.

History

Historical Context

The 1998 antitrust suit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and twenty states accused Microsoft of monopolizing PC operating systems, leading Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to order a $1.5 billion penalty that was later settled for $1 billion. That precedent underpins Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s 2024 $25 billion civil judgment against Meta under New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act, signaling intensified state enforcement of tech monopolies.

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Story summary

Attorney General Raúl Torrez secured a $25 billion civil penalty against Meta Platforms in New Mexico.
A Santa Fe jury found Meta liable for over 43 million violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act.
Judge Francis J. Matthew capped the award at $25 billion after initially calculating more than $219 billion.
Meta announced it will appeal, saying the ruling threatens its ability to do business in New Mexico.
Private firm DiCello Levitt could earn up to $1.27 billion in fees if the full $25 billion is recovered.

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