On the 21st, a judge presiding in New Mexico, United States, handed down a ruling that Meta would face a staggering $25 billion fine for its deceptive practices regarding user data privacy. The roots of this case trace back to the 2016 US presidential election, when Cambridge Analytica, a British firm, unlawfully harvested the data of around 87 million Facebook users via a third-party application, all in the name of political consulting. Meta stood accused of keeping its data collection methods and platform management shortcomings hidden from its user base. A jury's verdict revealed that 26 out of 29 claims made by Meta were deceptive, leading to nearly 43.9 million breaches of state law. Although the judge had the authority to impose a fine as high as $219.5 billion, he opted for a more moderate $25 billion penalty. In response, Meta has announced its intention to contest the ruling.