The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this month accused Meta of violating a consent decree governing the company’s collection and use of consumer data. The agency also proposed specific modifications preventing Meta from monetizing minors’ data in the future. In a new insight, Director of Technology and Innovation Policy Jeffrey Westling walks through his concerns about the FTC’s case against Meta.

Key points:

• Many of the FTC’s conclusions rely on outdated and incomplete information and do not adequately reflect Meta’s adherence to the consent decree; even if Meta violated the original consent decree, the FTC’s proposed modifications are likely unrelated to the harms cited.
• The FTC appears to be using minor incidents as justification to impose its preferred policy regime without having to go through the required process for broad rule changes.
• Congress should take oversight actions to ensure the agency stays within the authority it has been granted.

Read the analysis