Meta lost the lawsuit and may face a record fine of up to 219 billions dollars.

Meta Platforms lost in a trial in New Mexico on Thursday, facing the risk of a massive fine, marking the most costly legal consequence yet of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

According to Bloomberg, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez stated that the verdict is a "milestone moment" in holding tech giants accountable and will apply to the court to impose a civil fine of up to $219 billion on Meta.

The jury found that Meta deceived the public regarding its speech and data privacy policies, violating state law.

This judgment has a wide-ranging impact. The jury determined that in 34 statements listed in the verdict, Meta was liable for most items, with the number of violations ranging from 1.3 million to 2.1 million per item—figures corresponding to the number of Facebook users in New Mexico or the state’s total population in 2020.

The final amount of the fine will be decided by Santa Fe First Judicial District Court Judge Francis Mathew, with a maximum penalty of $5,000 for each violation.

On Friday, Meta closed down 3.33%.

Torrez is the first state-level law enforcement official in the U.S. to bring Meta to trial over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The scandal first came to light in 2018 and has spanned nearly ten years.

The incident originated from a data scientist who developed a quiz app. While the app appeared harmless, it collected not only Facebook users’ data but also that of their friends, ultimately involving a total of 87 million user profiles.

The now-defunct political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica subsequently obtained this data and used it for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Previously, Meta had paid large settlement amounts to avoid litigation. Parties to the agreements included the Federal Trade Commission, Facebook user groups, and a recent settlement led by a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general, totaling approximately $6 billion.

New Mexico and Washington, D.C. are the only two jurisdictions that did not join that coalition settlement.

Meta has challenged the verdict. In a statement, its spokesperson said, the company disagrees with the jury’s finding and will continue to defend against the "mischaracterization of our record."

"We have the right under the First Amendment to manage our platforms as we believe best serves the interests of our community," the spokesperson said. "That means prioritizing free expression, protecting user information, and empowering people to control their data."

It is worth noting that $219 billion is a theoretical maximum; the actual fine will depend on the judge’s final discretion. Torrez said at a press conference that the legal team has yet to determine the exact amount to request from the court but will pursue the highest possible sum.