Meta filed a lawsuit Wednesday against U.S. regulators who plan to change the terms of a 2020 privacy agreement.
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The Silicon Valley giant, known as Facebook at the time of the deal, said parts of the U.S. competition agency’s structure violated the U.S. Constitution, making the proceedings against Meta illegal.
The company claimed in a complaint filed in federal court in Washington that the situation amounted to a decision made by “an unlawful process by an unlawful decision maker.”
The U.S. competition agency’s actions make it both prosecutor and judge, depriving Meta of due process and usurping the power of the courts, the company argued in its lawsuit.
The American competition authority in May proposed changes to the data protection agreement it signed with Facebook in 2020, accusing the company of failing to comply with the terms of that agreement.
“Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” said Samuel Levine, head of the U.S. Competition Commission’s Consumer Protection Office, adding: “Facebook must answer for its failures.”
The 2020 agreement required Facebook to pay a $5 billion fine, expand child privacy protections and have the effectiveness of its efforts assessed by an independent third party.
According to the US competition authority, the proposed changes to the regulation include, among other things, prohibiting Meta from profiting from the data it collects, particularly through virtual reality products, from users under the age of 18.
Another proposed change would prohibit Meta from bringing new products or services to market without a reviewer confirming in writing that the new product is fully privacy compliant.
Meta asked the court 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 inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States,” the company said in its filing.
According to Meta’s lawsuit, the US competition authority is seeking comprehensive restrictions on companies’ use of their intellectual property.