New Mexico AG's $25B Meta Fine Sparks Free Speech Concerns

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has drawn scrutiny following a $25 billion penalty levied against Meta, the parent company of Facebook. Critics contend that the unprecedented fine, stemming from allegations of privacy and content-moderation violations, could stifle businesses in the state and infringe upon free speech principles.

Torrez, whose political career began with a 2016 district attorney campaign supported by significant funding from a George Soros-backed super PAC, has been noted for a more aggressive stance toward technology companies than toward criminal cases referred by law enforcement, according to local reports. The lawsuit against Meta, initially filed in 2021, gained momentum after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where user data from millions of Facebook users was compromised without their consent.

A jury found Meta liable for misleading users about its privacy practices and content moderation policies, leading to the substantial penalty announced on October 21. Meta has announced its intention to appeal the decision. "This ruling, and the Attorney General’s approach to this enforcement, makes it all but impossible to do business in the state of New Mexico," said Meta's chief legal officer, C.J. Mahoney. "At its core, this lawsuit seeks to impose a tax on speech to enforce new rules for what people can say online. We are confident we will prevail on appeal."

The violations initially carried potential penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, which could have theoretically amounted to over $219 billion before the judge reduced the judgment to $25 billion. This figure significantly exceeds New Mexico's annual state budget of approximately $11 billion. Torrez stated following the judgment that "powerful technology companies have operated as though their size and influence put them beyond the reach of the law."

During the trial, the state's legal team highlighted Meta's content moderation policies, including its decision to replace third-party fact-checkers with its own Community Notes feature after the 2025 election. State lawyers suggested this change was an attempt to appease then-President Donald Trump. Evidence presented included an email where Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg requested that Joe Rogan's account be placed on a "list of accounts that we double review before taking action on them." While Meta asserted this was to prevent mistaken enforcement, the state argued it demonstrated a lack of aggressive action on fact-checking.

Meta's defense emphasized a commitment to balancing free expression with user safety. However, some free speech advocates expressed concern that the jury, drawn from a county that voted heavily Democratic, might not have given full weight to these arguments. Jordan Sekulow, president of the American Center for Law and Justice, stated, "New Mexico cannot be allowed to accomplish through the threat of crushing financial penalties what the First Amendment forbids it from doing directly: coercing the suppression of lawful speech." Casey Mattox, a First Amendment lawyer, added, "This decision is a major threat to free speech. It would allow a few lawyers in a few states to regulate speech online in violation of federal law and the First Amendment."

The significant penalty and its implications could deter other companies from operating within New Mexico, raising broader questions about the state's regulatory approach to technology and speech.