Facebook drew scathing criticism from The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for claiming that a consent decree issued by the organization was the reason it had to shut down New York University’s Ad Observatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The social media giant faced heavy criticism this week after shutting down the accounts of researchers working for the Ad Observatory project, allowing Facebook users to download a browser plugin that allowed researchers to observe the type of ads that appear on a user’s page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike Clark, Facebook’s head of product management, defended the decision to end the project, arguing that it violated the site’s terms of use and a privacy program listed in a recent FTC order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Samuel Levine, executive director of the FTC’s bureau of consumer protection, said Facebook was wrong to say its decision had anything to do with the FTC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Levine argued that the consent decree did not prevent Facebook from making exceptions for “good-faith research in the public interest,” adding that the FTC “supports efforts to shed light on opaque business practices, especially around surveillance-based advertising.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NYU researchers Laura Edelson and Damon McCoy are still fighting to have their Facebook accounts reinstated so they can continue their work tracking political advertising on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n