Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission issued a proposal saying Meta, the company who owns Facebook and Instagram, should be banned from making money off of children. Well, children’s data.

The FTC says, “Meta’s recklessness has put young users at risk, and Facebook needs to answer for its failures.” For it’s part, Facebook says the FTC is engaging in a political stunt and that FTC Chair Lina Khan is antagonizing American business.

Facebook struck back and said it was being singled out “while allowing Chinese companies like TikTok, to operate without constrain on American soil.”

The FTC began looking into Facebook after the Cambridge Analytica scandal.They were recently slapped with a $725 million class action settlement.

The FTC instructed Facebook to take a number of actions to limit its negative impact on children:

• A blanket prohibition against monetising data of children and teens under 18

• A pause on the launch of new products until it could be established they were in full compliance with privacy rules 

• Limits on future uses of facial recognition technology. Meta would be required to disclose and obtain users’ affirmative consent for any future uses of facial recognition technology.

Beating up on Facebook and other Big Tech companies might be the only bipartisan thing going on in Congress. Facebook, Google, Apple, and Microsoft are the largest players in the world with the largest amounts of data on people. It’s normally hard to argue for more regulation, but things have gotten out of control with the amount of reach and knowledge these companies have on ordinary people’s lives.