Attorneys representing the State of New Mexico requested a district court judge on Thursday fine Facebook up to $40 billion after a Santa Fe jury last week found that the social media giant willfully violated state law regarding unfair and deceptive trade practices.
First Judicial District Judge Francis Mathew heard from attorneys representing both parties in advance of ruling on the penalties for Facebook. In its decision, the jury found that Facebook committed close to 44 million violations of New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act through its statements regarding user data, misinformation and hate speech on the platform, among other issues.
In a news conference last week following the verdict, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the total cost of violations could reach as much as $219 billion. On Thursday, Randi McGinn, the attorney representing the state, requested Mathew fine Facebook between $35 billion to $40 billion, and said the state is requesting that amount in order to hold Facebook accountable while also respecting its due process rights in case of appeal.
“Not only is that a fair amount,” McGinn said, “it would serve the purpose of deterrence — not just for Meta — but for any big company that would like to lie to the people of New Mexico.”
Matt Nicholson, an attorney representing Meta, told the judge that the state’s price tag is unprecedented and violates the company’s Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
The state, Nicholson said, is “trying to take advantage” of the jury’s ruling and “run up the score on penalties.”
Nicholson said that the state’s request is double the amount that was paid by British Petroleum following the Deep Horizon oil spill, and that while harm was clearly proven in that case, New Mexico did not prove that Facebook caused any harm to New Mexicans in this case to warrant the requested penalty.
He noted that the Supreme Court has “long held that the due process clause prohibits states from imposing statutory penalties that are wholly disproportionate to the offense.”
Mathew told both parties he will render a decision on penalties within two to three weeks.
