Saturday, September 26, 2026
A jury says Facebook misled users. New Mexico wins.
A jury in Santa Fe found Facebook liable on Friday for deceiving users about how it protected their data. The case goes back to a personality quiz that harvested 87 million profiles and sold them to Cambridge Analytica. Jurors counted over two million violations. The judge sets the penalty: the state wants $5,000 each.
Facebook is a website grown-ups use to share photos and news. Years ago it let a quiz game scoop up people’s information, like a friend reading your diary and passing it around. A jury in New Mexico said Facebook has to answer for that. The grown-ups have it.
Why it worksA six-year-old takes one vivid feature for the whole event, so the script gives them a diary passed around, a thing they can picture, and leaves data brokers with the grown-ups. Expect “do they have my pictures?” Kids their age aren’t on Facebook, and the quiz ran before they were born.
- “Did Facebook take my pictures?”
- No. Kids your age aren’t on Facebook. This was a grown-ups’ quiz, years ago, and a court is sorting it out.
Also written for and .
A quiz app on Facebook took data from 87 million profiles and sold it to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that aimed ads with it. New Mexico said Facebook promised to guard that data and didn’t. The jury agreed: over two million violations. A judge sets the fine, up to $5,000 each.
Why it worksThis age is working out rules and who they apply to, so the script runs the chain: a promise to guard the data, a quiz that took it, a jury that counted. Two million at $5,000 each is arithmetic they will do at the table. Expect “why did it take so long?” The other states signed the claim away. New Mexico kept going.
- “What did the quiz do?”
- It copied 87 million profiles and sold them to a political ad firm.
- “How much does Facebook pay?”
- The judge decides. New Mexico wants $5,000 per violation.
Also written for and .
Should a company answer in 2026 for a data leak from 2016? Facebook’s lawyers called the evidence outdated. Second: the other states let this claim go inside Meta’s $18 billion child-safety settlement in August. New Mexico sued alone. Who got the better deal?
Why it worksA teenager can hold two true things: the quiz ran a decade ago, and the people it scooped up are still here. The script hands them Facebook’s outdated-evidence defence and the other states’ settlement, then asks who did better. Let them take Facebook’s side. Expect “is $5,000 a lot to Meta?” Times two million, yes.
- “Isn’t this from 2016? Why now?”
- Meta settled with the other states in August and got this claim dropped. New Mexico didn’t sign, so its trial went on.
- “Didn’t New Mexico already beat Meta this year?”
- Yes: $942 million over kids’ safety, plus court-ordered age checks and time limits.
Also written for and .
Based on the headline: A jury says Facebook misled users. New Mexico wins.