Meta and the US Government Battle in Court Over FTC Plans to Tighten 2019 Privacy Orders

The FTC alleges Meta has misled parents (photo: twitter @meta)

JAKARTA - On Tuesday, October 17 lawyers for Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and the US government became embroiled in a dispute over plans by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to tighten a 2019 privacy order.

In  May 2023, the FTC accused Meta of misleading parents about the extent of their control over who their children interact with in the Messenger Kids app, and proposed to tighten existing agreements on privacy to prohibit making money from minors' data.

Speaking for Meta on Tuesday, James Rouhandeh argued that Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia had jurisdiction to take the case and should have rejected the FTC's proposal because Meta disagreed with it.

"They (the FTC) need approval to modify. Because this is a contract, they need approval to modify," he said.

Arguing for the FTC, the Justice Department's Zachary Cowan said it was the agency's decision whether their settlement should be modified and district courts did not have jurisdiction.

Kelly, who said he was "skeptical" of Meta's jurisdictional arguments, said he would likely make a decision before November 30.

Essentially, the fight is whether Meta and the FTC, if they fail to settle, will then go to district court or an FTC judge to decide whether to modify the 2019 agreement.

The changes proposed by the FTC include a ban on Facebook making money from data collected from users under the age of 18, including in its virtual reality business. It will also face expanded restrictions on using facial recognition technology.

Meta relies on targeted digital advertising using personal data for more than 98% of its revenue. Meta is competing with short video app TikTok for the attention of young users. The FTC has previously settled cases with Facebook twice regarding privacy violations.

The first was in 2012. Facebook agreed in 2019 to pay a fine of 5 billion US dollars (IDR 76 trillion) to settle allegations that it had violated a 2012 consent order by misleading users about the extent of its control over their personal data. The order was finalized in 2020.

The agency also asked a federal court in 2020 to order Facebook to sell Instagram, which it bought for USD 1 billion (IDR 15.7 trillion) in 2012, and WhatsApp, which it bought for USD 19 billion in 2014. The case is not yet brought to court.