Not surprisingly, Meta recently filed a new court action in opposition to the FTC that seeks to place additional restrictions on the firm's ability to use user data in ad targeting, particularly on teen users.

This case traces its roots back to 2019 when Meta settled with the FTC after paying a record $5 billion fine related to data privacy violation issues from the Cambridge Analytica scandal that accesses information of more than 50 million Facebook user profiles collected by the shady analysis company to influence people's actions during voter procedures.

The peculiar case does seem to have been laid to rest, but many commentators feel that the settlement came with no new rules or outcome in terms of restriction; since then, however, these have permitted Meta to breach certain aspects of the implied undertakings of the original FTC order.

Based on this, the FTC filed a new motion last May to address this by extending the original 2019 settlement into new provisions to stop Meta from earning profits based on data amassed from users under age 18. The new amendments would also enforce restrictions for Meta's use of facial recognition technology, with both measures focused mainly on new use cases amid Meta's push for the VR metaverse.

Meta countered the FTC's move towards the end of last year by saying that the latter's conduct is in fact a violation of the United States Constitution. Still, last November, a federal judge ruled that the FTC can indeed continue its proposed measure.
When Meta at that time said it would appeal, it was not lying. It has now done so, but filed this time to have an injunction while the next stage of the appeal is pending.

This case significantly impacts the company, mainly as it seeks to develop new systems aligned with VR usage and customize user experiences with its new platforms. However, many would say that the FTC is right to get ahead of this now before the metaverse becomes a bigger concern and like Facebook, or rather Meta, gets out of control with its prior emphasis on growth over data privacy, especially for vulnerable users.

Besides new limitations on the use of teen data, the FTC further seeks a new restriction that would block Meta from launching new products before they are rated for their privacy and stronger third-party auditing of how data are being used.

It does make sense for the FTC to be leading the way on something of this nature, although Meta is keen to fight the changes, so it will remain a battle for some time yet.

But like AI, regulation in any form is needed, and it is crucial that the FTC leads on areas that it deems could pose harm if left to develop freely, especially around developing technologies.