2023-12-01 07:07:52
Published on Dec 1 2023 at 8:07
The standoff continues between Meta and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Mark Zuckerberg’s company filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the US competition authority, which plans to modify the terms of an agreement concluded in 2020 on the protection of privacy.
The Silicon Valley giant (still called Facebook at the time the deal was struck) believes that certain aspects of the structure of the US competition authority violate the US Constitution, which would make it illegal to procedure initiated. The situation amounts to being decided by “an illegitimate proceeding conducted by an illegitimate decision-maker,” Meta wrote in a complaint filed in federal court in Washington, arguing that the FTC was both prosecutor and judge in the case.
The 2020 agreement requires Facebook to pay a $5 billion fine, expand child privacy protections and have an independent third party evaluate the effectiveness of its efforts. Measures that Meta would not have respected, according to the American authority. “Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s consumer protection office.
Intellectual property restrictions
Faced with these shortcomings, the federal agency proposed modifications to the agreement in May. These changes include prohibiting Meta from profiting from the data it collects, including through virtual reality products, from users under the age of 18. Another proposed change prohibits Meta from launching new products or services without an evaluator confirming in writing that the new product is fully privacy compliant.
Meta asked the courts to prevent the American competition authority from making these changes. “Meta respectfully requests that this court declare that certain fundamental aspects of the authority structure are contrary to the Constitution of the United States,” the company wrote in its petition. According to Meta’s lawsuit, the FTC seeks to impose broad restrictions on how companies use their intellectual property.
Source AFP
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