New Mexico jury rules Facebook misled users

A jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico on September 25, 2026 found Facebook liable for deceiving users in the state about its privacy protections. The verdict concluded that the company, owned by Meta Platforms (META), violated New Mexico law through misleading statements related to user privacy and safety on the platform. The decision came after a two-week trial that focused on how Facebook described its handling of user data and harmful content.

Jurors determined that specific statements about users’ ability to control their personal information were misleading. They also found that Facebook’s representations about the way it manages harmful content did not match its actual practices. These findings formed the basis of the liability determination under New Mexico’s consumer protection laws.

In their verdict, jurors found that Facebook’s failure to protect user data affected New Mexico’s population, which the verdict described as more than two million people. This broad impact across the state’s residents underscored the scale of the conduct evaluated at trial. The case focused on users in New Mexico and how they were informed about what happened to their data and exposure to harmful content.

The findings did not turn on individual user complaints but on the overall effect of Facebook’s practices and public statements on New Mexico consumers as a whole. By framing the impact in terms of the state’s population, the verdict linked the company’s conduct to a large group of affected users.

Following the liability verdict, the jury was asked to determine how many separate violations of New Mexico law occurred. The number of violations will be a key factor in calculating potential financial consequences for Facebook. This phase focuses on quantifying how often the misleading statements or practices at issue are deemed to have breached the law.

Once jurors establish the count of violations, Judge Francis Mathew will decide the monetary penalties to be imposed. The state is seeking civil fines of up to $5,000 per violation, which could lead to a substantial total depending on the violations tally. The case now moves into this post-verdict stage to translate the jury’s findings into specific financial penalties.

The New Mexico jury’s ruling represents a state-level liability finding against Facebook on privacy-related consumer protection claims. It centers on the mismatch between Facebook’s public statements about privacy and harmful content and its actual handling of user data and safety issues. The verdict highlights how state consumer protection laws can be used to challenge the accuracy of major technology platforms’ representations to users.

With liability now established and penalties still to be determined, the outcome in New Mexico adds a legal benchmark for how privacy and content management assurances are evaluated in court. The final financial implications will depend on the judge’s penalty decision after the jury completes its violations assessment.