In a lawsuit, Meta Platforms, that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsAp, asked an appeals court to prevent the US Federal Trade Commission from forcibly reopening a consent agreement and directing the social media behemoth to cease obtaining money from users under the age of 18.

The conflict dates back to May, when the FTC suggested strengthening a consent decree from 2019 to forbid Meta from profiting from underage customers, including through its virtual reality ventures. Additionally, it would increase limitations on facial recognition software.

Facebook, which changed its name to Meta in 2021, was forced to pay $5 billion under the terms of the 2019 agreement after breaking an earlier one.

The FTC is fighting to encourage competition and privacy among Big Tech companies, who want to stop any reforms that could reduce their revenues. Meta is fighting back in this new lawsuit.

Judge Timothy Kelly's decision this week that the FTC judge, not the district judge, should determine that issue was met with a separate appeal from the company.

The current action, which was filed late on Wednesday, contends that the FTC's unilateral tightening of an existing consent agreement is unlawful. It lists the Democratic commissioners, Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, as defendants in addition to the agency.

The regulator announced in May that it had taken this action due to, among other things, allegations that Meta had misled parents about the degree of control they had over who their kids interacted with on the Messenger Kids app.

The agency's joint duty of bringing a case before an FTC judge is the subject of the Meta complaints. The commission then casts a vote on whether to adopt the FTC judge's decision.

Additionally, it claims that an FTC trial does not allow for a jury and that the commissioners are "unconstitutionally insulated from removal by the president".

The agency and Meta are engaged in a separate antitrust lawsuit. In 2020, it requested that a federal court force the corporation to sell WhatsApp, which it purchased for $19 billion in 2014, and Instagram, which it purchased for $1 billion in 2012. Trial in this case has not yet taken place.