New Mexico trial to begin for Facebook in Cambridge Analytica scandal

A trial in the US state of New Mexico will commence Wednesday to determine Facebook’s liability in the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal following years of legal disputes.

“Facebook’s data breach didn’t just expose private information, it revealed a pattern of misrepresentation about how user data was collected, shared, and exploited,” New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said in a statement. He emphasized that the proceedings aim to hold US social media company Meta, the parent organization of Facebook, accountable for violating the trust of New Mexicans and global users.

The trial in New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court is expected to last four weeks. The state plans to present evidence including testimony from corporate propaganda experts as well as video depositions from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg, who is accused of being tasked with turning user data into revenue.

The lawsuit, originally filed in 2021, alleges that Facebook violated the Unfair Practices Act, a state law designed to protect consumers from deceptive business conduct. New Mexico argues that users were misled about privacy protections during the Cambridge Analytica scandal, a controversy that erupted in 2018 involving the unauthorized harvesting of data from tens of millions of accounts for targeted political advertising during the 2016 US presidential election and Brexit referendum.

New Mexico is seeking injunctive relief to prevent future privacy violations alongside maximum civil penalties available under the Unfair Practices Act for each violation, claiming 350,000 New Mexicans had their data exposed.

The litigation arrives shortly after Meta agreed to a record $18 billion settlement with 47 US states for allegations that its platforms were designed to addict young users.