A New Mexico Judge Ordered Meta to Pay $25 Billion For a Case. Its Stock is Still Climbing.

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company guilty of misleading consumers about the privacy of their data a decade ago.

"Facebook's wrongdoing — over the course of years and systematically broadcast to the public — goes to the heart of Facebook's core business practices," Judge Francis Mathew said in the order.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said the decision could be the largest verdict by a single state against the company. "It has been a long time coming holding Big Tech accountable," he said in a press conference after the ruling.

"I think today's judgment is a clear break with that past and a very clear warning to those in this space and beyond that we intend to protect our people and ‌protect our ⁠consumers," he added.

However, the company's stock has not reacted negatively to the development. Meta shares were climbing 1.77% and clocked in above $706.5 a piece at 3:01 p.m. ET. It is likely that the company will appeal the ruling so the decision doesn't have a direct impact in its finances.

The case in question is related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, with the trial showing that the British consulting firm harvested data from close to 90 million Facebook users without their consent through a third-party app.

New Mexico was also at the helm of a landmark case against Meta and centered on social media addiction. The company was accused of misrepresenting the impact of its platforms on the mental health of children.

The company ended up settling and agreed to make several changes to its apps, including daily usage limits and "nighttime blocks" for teenagers, as well as "enhanced age assurance measures" that would prevent children from using them. Parents and guardians would have additional tools as well.

According to the lawsuit, Meta "developed and refined a set of psychologically manipulative platform features designed to maximize young users' time spent on its social media platforms."

New Mexico and other states pointed to features including infinite scroll, autoplay, and likes as examples of mechanisms they say encourage prolonged and compulsive use. The attorneys general also allege Meta knew its platforms could contribute to anxiety, depression and suicide among some young users but presented its products as safe.