Record $24.6M penalty against Facebook

OLYMPIA —The maximum $24.6 million penalty was issued against Facebook’s parent company, Meta, by a King County Superior Court judge Oct. 26 in Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s campaign finance transparency lawsuit. Judge Douglass North ruled that Meta intentionally violated Washington law 822 times. Because the violations were intentional, the court imposed triple the penalty, a maximum of $30,000 per violation, as requested.

This is the largest campaign finance penalty ever in the country. North also ordered Facebook to reimburse the Attorney General’s costs and fees, and ordered that those a...