The United States Federal Trade Commission condemned tech giant Meta for misleading parents about protection for children and not putting proper parental controls in place.
The top US data privacy regulator also said that Meta should be banned from making money from minors’ data, proposing to tighten an existing agreement on privacy.
The FTC highlighted that Facebook deluded parents about how much control they had over who their kids are in contact with on the Messenger Kids app and was also deceitful about the access the developers of the application had to the private data of users.
The proposed changes by Federal Trade Commission include banning Facebook for making money from the data collected from users under the age of 18 and would also face expanded limitations on using facial recognition technology.
Meta calls FTC action a ‘political stunt’
Tech giant Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, called the action by FTC a “political stunt” adding that the regulator failed to act against “Chinese companies, like TikTok”.
“We will vigorously fight this action and expect to prevail,” the company said.
The company mostly relies on digital target-based ads for more than 98 per cent of its revenue and is currently battling the short-form video app TikTok for young users’ attention.
Facebook will have a time period of 30 days to respond. The company can also appeal any commission decision at an appeals court.
“This is a very substantial statement from the FTC about whether or not Meta has fulfilled its duties to protect children,” said Debra Williamson of Insider Intelligence, adding that “the revenue implications are not likely very large.”
“Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The company’s recklessness has put young users at risk, and Facebook needs to answer for its failures.”
FTC to target Artificial Intelligence that infringes civil rights
Last month, US Federal Trade Commission said that the agency would pursue the organisations that misused artificial intelligence to infringe laws against discrimination.
In a congressional hearing, FTC Chair Lina Khan and Commissioners Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya were asked about concerns that recent innovation in artificial intelligence, which can be used to produce high-quality deep fakes, could be used to make more effective scams or otherwise violate laws.
Bedoya said companies using algorithms or artificial intelligence were not allowed to violate civil rights laws or break rules against unfair and deceptive acts.
“It’s not okay to say that your algorithm is a black box” and you can’t explain it, he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
