“Meta Faces Threat of FTC Ban on New Products & Data Use from Minors”

The Facebook group Meta is threatened with new serious conditions in the USA. Among other things, the US consumer protection agency FTC wants to ban Meta from releasing new products or functions until a supervisor evaluates the company’s data protection program positively.

The group should also not be allowed to use data from users under the age of 18 to earn money, as the FTC announced yesterday. Meta criticized the plans as a political show action and wants to fight back.

The currently three FTC members will decide on the proposals that Meta can comment on in the process. Meta can then go to court. All three FTC members are Democrats from US President Joe Biden’s party. The only Republican resigned in protest at FTC chief Lina Khan’s course.

Five billion dollar fine

The FTC accuses Meta of violating previous data protection regulations. These were imposed after violations. Among other things, software developers had illegal access to user data in some cases. The group also falsely claimed that the Messenger Kids chat service had parents in control of who their children communicated with.

The Facebook group last received further data protection requirements in 2020. He also paid a $5 billion fine at the time. Meta argues that the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) should not unilaterally change conditions of the agreement between the agency and the company, which was then approved by a court. The group also criticizes that the FTC refers to problems from years ago.

According to Meta, Messenger Kids, designed for children, had a software error. As a result, the children could not only communicate with friends approved by their parents, but also with their friends. The FTC and those affected were informed of the error in 2019.