U.S. FTC says Facebook misused privacy decree to shut down ad research

FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen at the Federal Trade Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission criticized Facebook Inc on Thursday for making "misleading claims" to explain why it had disabled the accounts of researchers studying political ads on the social media platform.

Facebook said on Tuesday it had cut off the personal accounts and access of the New York University researchers because of concerns about other users' privacy.