New Mexico Takes Facebook to Trial Over Cambridge Analytica Scandal Nearly a Decade Later

A Lone State Steps Into the Courtroom

Nearly ten years after a data scandal shook American democracy, a Santa Fe jury is now deciding whether Facebook must answer for it. Opening arguments were delivered on September 9, 2026, in Santa Fe's First Judicial District Court in New Mexico's trial against Facebook for its alleged role in the Cambridge Analytica data breach. What makes this moment remarkable isn't just the size of the case — it's that New Mexico is doing this entirely alone.

New Mexico is the only state that has pushed the case toward trial as part of its go-it-alone approach to prosecuting Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. Attorneys general across the nation joined multi-state lawsuits against the social media company after 2018 news reports that Cambridge Analytica was harvesting Facebook users' data to use in political campaigns, but then-New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas decided to forgo a multi-state coalition and sue Facebook individually.

What the State Says Facebook Did Wrong

In court documents, the state argues Facebook failed to alert or protect users from a personality quiz on the social platform that harvested data from roughly 87 million Facebook profiles and sold it to Cambridge Analytica — data that was then used to generate targeted ads during the 2016 presidential election. New Mexico estimates that roughly 350,000 state residents were exposed to the breach.

An attorney for New Mexico argued that Facebook betrayed users' trust that the social media platform would protect their personal data, with New Mexico attorney Randi McGinn declaring in opening statements: "If you want to know why a corporation would misrepresent, try to deceive, or lie to its consumers, you just have to follow the money." McGinn went further, telling jurors exactly how that data was weaponized. She said Cambridge Analytica used Facebook profile data to geographically target Democratic voters with messaging such as "'Hillary's got it, you don't need to vote'" — an alleged attempt to reduce voter turnout. McGinn also walked jurors through internal email threads in which Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives appear to internally argue over whether they should be honest in public statements about the extent to which the company collects and sells users' individual data.

Facebook's Defense

An attorney for Meta told jurors that the social media platform launched an investigation in 2016 that ultimately cost $130 million and involved over 700 investigators, arguing: "They didn't stick their head in the sand — they took action." He said they suspended 125,000 apps. Facebook's attorney also said the state's evidence is outdated because safeguards have improved significantly since the breach.

The trial comes just weeks after Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle a multistate suit surrounding child safety issues — and buried in that 130-page settlement was an agreement to release Meta from future liability related to the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach, making New Mexico the only state still pursuing a case. Earlier this year, New Mexico had already secured a total of $942 million from Meta in a two-phase trial about the company's safety protections for minors, with the court ordering Meta to implement new safeguards including age verification technology and time limits on its platforms.

What's at Stake — and What Comes Next

The state is seeking the maximum civil penalties under New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act, up to $5,000 per violation, and an injunction to halt future breaches of user data. The trial is expected to last around four weeks and will include a video deposition of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The trial is scheduled to run through early October and will also include a video deposition of former Facebook Chief Operations Officer Sheryl Sandberg.

The outcome of this trial could carry consequences far beyond New Mexico's borders. Attorney General Raul Torrez has stated that the case is about holding Facebook accountable for violating the trust of New Mexicans and users worldwide by exposing private information and misrepresenting how user data was collected, shared, and exploited. Whether a jury in Santa Fe agrees — and what precedent that verdict sets for how states can hold tech giants accountable — is a question the entire country will be watching unfold over the next several weeks.