Washington (November 30, 2023) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, issued the following statement today blasting Meta’s lawsuit against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC):

“Meta's baseless lawsuit is a weak attempt to avoid accountability for its repeated failures to protect kids' privacy online. When a Big Tech company wants to take the federal cop off the beat, it’s probably because it doesn’t want to be caught. For years, Meta has been willfully ignoring the problems it has created – including a privacy crisis, a teen mental health crisis, and an algorithmic injustice crisis – and this lawsuit is just the latest craven distraction. In the face of a potentially massive fine, Meta's adoption of extreme, right-wing legal theories to challenge our country’s premier, consumer protection agency reeks of desperation. Congress must respond to this brazen attempt to evade accountability by passing my bipartisan COPPA 2.0 legislation. If we don’t act now, our young people stand to lose the most – their mental health, their privacy, and above all, trust in the institutions that are supposed to keep them safe.”

As author of the landmark 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, Senator Markey has long championed protections for children and teens online. In May, Senators Markey and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) reintroduced the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), legislation to update online data privacy rules for the 21st century to ensure children and teenagers are protected online. In July, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee unanimously passed COPPA 2.0.

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