via seattletimes:
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, was fined nearly $25 million Wednesday for intentionally and repeatedly violating Washington’s campaign finance laws.
King County Superior Court Judge Douglass North issued the maximum possible fine to the social media giant, after finding that the company had, between 2019 and 2021, violated Washington’s longstanding political disclosure law 822 separate times.
It is the largest campaign finance penalty ever issued anywhere in the country, Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office said.
Each violation of the law is typically punishable by up to $10,000, but since North found that Meta intentionally violated the law, the fines can be tripled.
North fined Meta $30,000 for each of its 822 violations.