Despite Meta’s protests that it had previously paid a $5 billion fine and consented to a number of safeguards, a U.S. appeals court determined that Meta (META.O), opens new tab cannot, for the time being at least, block the U.S.
Federal Trade Commission from reopening an investigation into the privacy practices of its Facebook arm.
The FTC seeks to strengthen a 2020 Facebook privacy settlement that forbids making money off of the data of children and increases restrictions on facial recognition technology.
The organization has charged Meta with deceiving parents about kid protection measures.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s ruling, which was made late on Tuesday, was a defeat for Meta, which had requested that the court halt the FTC case while it pursued a different action contesting the FTC’s investigation on constitutional grounds.
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The appeals court said that Meta would have a chance to challenge the FTC’s final decision and that the agency’s stated privacy concerns “implicate important public interests.”
The court’s ruling, according to a statement from Meta, “does not address the substance of the FTC’s allegations, which are without merit.”
On Wednesday, the FTC chose not to comment.
Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp owner Meta has said that the FTC cannot “unilaterally rewrite” the terms of the previous settlement, which was approved by a U.S. judge in 2020.
“Curtail[ing] Meta’s development of new products, superintend Meta’s corporate governance, and impair Meta’s ability to serve its users and advertisers,” was how Meta put the proposed FTC reforms.
In response, the FTC stated that the settlement was not meant to settle “all claims in perpetuity” and that it just established new standards for oversight and compliance.
Numerous U.S. lawsuits accusing Meta and other social media companies of encouraging young people to become addicted to their platforms are being contested by them individually.
In addition, Meta is being sued by the FTC for allegedly controlling the personal social network industry. Meta has refuted the claims.
Writer: Mike Scarcella David Bario and Alexandra Hudson edited
