The Federal Trade Commission stepped up its battle with the major players in the digital sector, by attempting to enforce a ‘blanket prohibition’ on the acquisition of personal information about children by Meta, the parent company of Facebook.

The commission claims that Meta has not fully complied with the legal obligations it undertook to change its privacy practices in order to better safeguard its customers, and seeks to dramatically enlarge a record-breaking $5 billion consent order with the firm starting in 2020.

Regulators also claimed that Meta had exaggerated the access it provided to some app developers to users' private data and had misled parents about their capacity to regulate who their children spoke with on its Messenger Kids app.

The proposed changes represent the third time the FCC has penalized the social media juggernaut for privacy-related problems.

An order to show cause, the FTC's administrative action, details the commission's allegations against Meta and its suggested limitations. The FTC's proposed reforms would prevent Meta from making money off of the information it gathers from users under the age of 18, including through Facebook, Instagram, Oculus headsets, and the new virtual reality platform Horizon Worlds. Even after those underage users reach the age of 18, regulators seek to prohibit the corporation from using such data.

In other words, Meta will be banned from using information on young people's activities to target adverts at them based on their actions or encourage them to buy digital goods like outfits for their avatars.

Since user data is essential to Meta's advertising business, which accounts for the vast majority of its revenue, the proposed changes may have significant financial effects.

The commission's bold approach is the first time it has suggested a broad restriction on the usage of data to safeguard children's internet privacy.

Over the past year, lawmakers in at least two dozen states have introduced bills that would require certain sites, like social networks, to prohibit or limit young people from using their platforms. This is in response to growing concerns about childhood depression and the potential role that potentially harmful online experiences could play in exacerbating it. Regulators are stepping up their efforts and enforcing penalties against online services whose use or abuse of data potentially endanger children.

The FTC did not provide Meta prior notice of the action, and it has 30 days to contest the submission.