Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen on smartphone in front of displayed logo of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Whatsapp and Oculus in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Meta Platforms Inc FollowWASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Lawyers for Meta (META.O), which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and the U.S. government tangled on Tuesday over the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's plan to toughen a 2019 privacy order. Speaking for Meta on Tuesday, James Rouhandeh argued that Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia had jurisdiction to take the case and should scrap the FTC's proposal because Meta had not agreed to it. Arguing for the FTC, Zachary Cowan of the Justice Department said that it was the agency's decision on whether its settlements should be changed and the district court had no jurisdiction. Essentially, the fight is whether Meta and the FTC, if they fail to settle, will go to district court or an FTC judge to decide if the 2019 agreement will be modified.

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Persons: Dado Ruvic, James Rouhandeh, Timothy Kelly, Meta, Zachary Cowan, Kelly, Diane Bartz, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Facebook, REUTERS, WASHINGTON, Meta, U.S, U.S . Federal, District of Columbia, Justice Department, FTC, Thomson Locations: toughen