$35M campaign finance fine against Meta upheld by WA Supreme Court
Facebook’s parent company must pay the largest campaign finance fine in Washington state history, the state Supreme Court affirmed in a split decision Thursday.
Meta urged the justices to declare a state law unconstitutional under the First Amendment to avert the $35 million penalty. The social media conglomerate repeatedly hadn’t provided required records for digital political advertisements hosted on its platforms.
The divided ruling is the latest development in the multi-year litigation that began during Gov. Bob Ferguson’s time as Washington’s attorney general. Washington first sued Meta over the issue in 2018, and the company agreed to pay about $200,000 in damages at that time.
Six justices sided with the state to uphold the campaign finance law, using different legal reasoning to make their conclusions.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/06/18/35m-campaign-finance-fine-against-meta-upheld-by-wa-supreme-court/