Meta Faces US$25 Billion Fine in New Mexico Over Data Breach

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Meta is reportedly facing its largest-ever fine, amounting to US$25 billion (around Rp452.6 trillion), in New Mexico, a US state.

The penalty was ordered by the Santa Fe State District Court over Meta’s negligence in relation to the data breach in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which came to prominence in 2018.

According to a GSM Arena report on Thursday (22 October), local time, jurors found Meta guilty of 43 million violations of New Mexico’s consumer protection law.

Each violation can incur a fine of up to US$5,000 (around Rp90 million). Based on the total number of violations, Meta was ultimately ordered to pay US$25 billion to the state of New Mexico.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal involved the misuse of the personal data of 87 million Facebook users, collected without their permission by the UK political analytics firm Cambridge Analytica.

Nearly a decade on, the case continues to haunt Meta as one of the most serious data breaches in the history of global cybersecurity.

The fine is the largest ever imposed on a company led by Mark Zuckerberg.

For context, Meta made around US$42.6 billion (approximately Rp771 trillion) in profit in the first half of 2026. A US$25 billion penalty for violating New Mexico regulations would consume almost 60 per cent of that profit.

Meta was found guilty of deceiving users by allowing third-party app developers to access their personal information without their consent.

As expected, Meta has confirmed that it will appeal the court’s decision. The company’s chief legal officer, CJ Mahoney, said he was confident Meta would win the appeal.

Earlier this year, before the US$25 billion penalty, New Mexico also fined Meta US$375 million (around Rp6.7 trillion) for violating state rules on online child safety.