近距离内射合集

A trial set to begin next week in Santa Fe pitting New Mexico against Facebook is the next round in the state's go-it-alone strategy against digital giant Meta.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in New Mexico v. Facebook, marking the third time this year that New Mexico has faced off in court against Meta Platforms Inc., owner of Facebook and Instagram.

The lawsuit, filed in 2021 by then-Attorney General Hector Balderas, was part of a wave of state-privacy lawsuits filed by state attorneys general after news broke in 2018 that Facebook had allowed the now-defunct firm Cambridge Analytica to harvest data from up to 87 million Americans for use in political campaigns. The firm's clients included the 2016 campaign of President Donald Trump.

In court filings, Facebook has denied all of New Mexico's allegations. Meta also recently settled most of the lawsuits related to Cambridge Analytica.

In August, Meta reached a landmark settlement agreeing to pay $17 billion to 47 states to settle lawsuits alleging harms against children. Buried inside that 130-page settlement was a separate settlement in which Meta agreed to pay nearly $460 million to settle lawsuits filed by 47 states related to Cambridge Analytica.

Meta agreed to make "Cambridge Payments" ranging from about $4 million to Alaska to over $18 million to Massachusetts, the settlement shows. The deal releases Meta from all claims related to Cambridge Analytica, including any future claims.

But New Mexico declined to join the multistate settlement and instead has followed its own path in litigation against Meta, including claims related to Cambridge Analytica.

New Mexico v. Meta

In a 2023 lawsuit, Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez filed a suit against Meta Platforms and CEO Mark Zuckerberg alleging the company failed to protect children from sexual abuse, online solicitation and human trafficking. That lawsuit led to two high-profile trials this year in 1st Judicial District Court in Santa Fe.

On Aug. 6, District Judge Bryan Biedscheid ordered Meta to pay $567 million to help repair harm caused by the company's platforms. That order followed a jury verdict in March that ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties to New Mexico.

Torrez has argued that New Mexico has obtained a better deal by pursuing its own litigation against Meta.

After the 47-state settlement was announced Aug. 27, a New Mexico Department of Justice spokeswoman said that New Mexico secured a per capita recovery eight times higher than it would have under the multistate settlement.

鈥淎ttorney General Torrez declined to join the multistate litigation by other states and instead initiated its own case against Meta under New Mexico law," said Lauren Rodriguez, the agency's chief of staff. "That decision resulted in not only the first ever trial victory against the social media giant but also a historic $942 million recovery for New Mexico鈥檚 kids."

Cambridge Analytica lawsuit

New Mexico now is pursuing its own litigation against Facebook in connection to Cambridge Analytica. The 1st Judicial District Court trial is scheduled to continue through Oct. 2 before District Judge Francis Mathew.

The 2021 lawsuit alleges that Cambridge Analytica, a London-based political consulting firm, was able to harvest data from an estimated 70 million U.S. Facebook users, including about 350,000 New Mexicans.

"Cambridge Analytica received millions of dollars from multiple presidential candidate campaigns to provide digital advertising services during the 2016 election," the suit alleges.

The suit also alleges that Facebook had employees "embedded" within the campaigns and profited "by selling millions of dollars of advertising space to Cambridge Analytica" and the candidate campaigns in 2016.

The state lawsuit alleges Facebook violated New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act and seeks unspecified penalties available under the law.

In 2019, Facebook was ordered to pay a record $5 billion penalty to the Federal Trade Commission in connection with Cambridge Analytica.

Olivier Uyttebrouck covers the courts and legal affairs. You can reach him at olivier@abqjournal.com.