// THE VERGE — LINUX & OPEN SOURCE
Meta’s $25 billion legal loss just put blood in the water
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Should states have sought more in their kids online safety settlement?
Should states have sought more in their kids online safety settlement?
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When attorneys general from across the US announced a $17 billion settlement with Meta this summer, the sum was unprecedented. But a ruling last week by a New Mexico judge blew that number out of the water. The judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion to resolve claims that Meta misled users around the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal and related incidents. Similar claims were resolved by the settlement with most other states. The outcome raised an obvious question: Should these states have asked for more?
The answer depends on a mix of factors, including whether the $25 billion order stands up to Meta’s legal challenges. Meta’s chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney said in a statement that the company is “confident we will prevail on appeal” and called New Mexico’s lawsuit an attempt to impose “a tax on speech.” If the fine sticks, however, it could create a new appetite for Big Tech’s opponents to stick it out in court — or ask for bigger payouts to settle.
“For the settling AGs, they’re going to look at this and maybe experience some regret for all the claims that they waived, and start looking around and trying to figure out what’s left that they didn’t waive, if they can try to get some money like this too,” says Daphne Keller, director of platform regulation at the Stanford Program in Law, Science & Technology. For the many individuals, school districts, and tribes with outstanding claims, “this is very encouraging and will make them hopeful that continuing to litigate aggressively will lead to a big payout,” Keller says.