While 48 other U.S.
states recently reached a landmark settlement with Meta regarding various privacy concerns, New Mexico is the only state to push this specific data breach case to trial.
New Mexico’s legal team argues that the harvested data was sold to a political consulting firm to generate targeted ads designed to suppress voter turnout during the 2016 presidential election.
According to the state, Facebook internally flagged thousands of suspicious apps but chose not to alert the public to avoid a loss in advertising revenue.
Meta’s defense maintains that the state’s evidence is outdated, claiming the company has since significantly improved its data protections—the technical safeguards used to secure personal information—and has tightened its oversight of third-party developers.
The trial is expected to last four weeks and will feature a video deposition from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
New Mexico is seeking an injunction, or a court order to halt specific business practices, along with civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation under the state’s Unfair Practices Act.
Although the state estimates 350,000 residents were directly exposed to the breach, it is asking jurors to consider the broader harm caused to all 2 million New Mexicans by the alleged pattern of data exploitation and misrepresentation.