US federal judge rules against Meta in privacy fight with FTC

WASHINGTON : Meta’s Facebook lost the latest round of a court battle over privacy with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Monday after a federal judge ruled the regulator can seek to reduce the amount of money the social media company makes from users under 18.

The judge ruled that Facebook must face a review of an earlier agreement that it struck with the FTC.

Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a motion filed by Meta for the court to take over the fight.

The FTC has argued that it was up to the agency to decide whether its settlements should be changed and that the district court had no jurisdiction. A commission decision can be appealed to the relevant appeals court.

The FTC proposed changing a settlement reached in 2019 which required Facebook to pay $5 billion. The FTC said it would tighten that to bar Facebook from making money off data collected on users under age 18, including in its virtual reality business. It would also face expanded limitations on using facial recognition technology.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.