this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2026
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Stop just fining these fuckers! They can afford any amount you fine them with. Shut down the service and charge them with crimes or gtfo.
Normally I'd agree, but if one of the more populated states fined meta at this rate it'd be a corporate death penalty
For context - New Mexico has a population of 2,124,222, making it the 36th most populated state in the country.
That's under 1% of the country. California has 39,355,309... No company currently in existence could survive a 4 trillion dollar fine
This is huge.. if it goes through
Not really. This is a lawsuit about the whole Cambridge Analytica scandal back in 2016. While the penalties could technically be up to $200 Billion... they won't actually be anywhere near that high.
Back in August, they settled another multi-state lawsuit for the same stuff... for $18 Billion. And that was for settling with 48 states. New Mexico and Florida were the only two states not included in that lawsuit. There's no way in hell the punishment will be anywhere near $200 Billion for the same actions in a single state.
The only other state that could continue going after them for these actions is Florida since the other 48 states all settled.
So this issue is effectively over, and it fizzled out with a slap on the wrist as everyone expected because we don't actually punish large companies in this country.
Like I said, this is huge, if it goes through
$200 billion isn't a slap on the wrist, it's a real punishment. Facebook can't just cut a check and continue on, they're going to have to make hard choices if they are made to pay up. Florida alone could still drain the company dry on this case, but more importantly it sets a precedent
Since we don't have a functioning system of corporate punishment, it's all case law. I'm sure Facebook is going to fight it with everything they have, so it's not nearly over... But if this goes through anyways? That could change things
If 43 million violations of the law aren't enough to shut something down, what is?
Fuck if I know. We can revoke a corporate charter through an act of Congress for any or no reason, we have trust busting laws that allow courts to split a company, individual states can decide to restrict or kick out a company...
We have mechanisms to do these things, but we don't really have a system of corporate criminal punishment. It's one of those problems of using an early version of democracy... Courts can fine and impose sanctions, they can prosecute individuals for their part, but as time went on instead of legislating a system of corporate punishment it's just been left to case law
Which doesn't work out well, because corporations have grown to the point they can dump more way money into legal defense than the courts can put into prosecution
So the answer to your question is basically that it doesn't matter how much they violate the law, they're to big and too powerful for the courts to handle them with the tools available
Thanks for the thoughtful answer, but that's all pretty depressing.
Yuuup. There's people overseas always demanding Americans take back control and stop the madness...
It's like, my brother, you have no idea what you're asking. We have so much to fix. We don't even have the mechanisms to fix the foundational problems yet. We are working on it, all of it, while also fighting like hell to avoid letting tens of millions die for easily preventable reasons
And the world's most powerful interests are fighting every single little step of the way
So, sorry to depresses you, but I do appreciate the empathy
As someone who's fight left them a long time ago, and it's not like I had much to begin with, I don't really blame people in America for not fighting more. Lord knows I probably wouldn't be.Those cruel fucks are just so organised, and have so much energy.
fuck around and find out. it might make other corporations think twice before breaking law
Good. Facebook should be shut down and liquidated.
Rip the fucking bandaid off.