WASHINGTON Meta Platforms, which owns WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, on Tuesday said it would appeal a judge's ruling that a U.S. regulator can seek to reduce the amount of money the social media company makes from users under 18.

Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a motion filed by Meta on Monday for the court to hear the dispute with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Meta in a court filing on Tuesday said it would appeal Kelly's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The fight is largely over whether an FTC judge or a district judge will decide whether the FTC can unilaterally tighten an earlier consent decree to limit what Meta makes off younger users, with the court process presumed to be quicker. Either would be appealed to a U.S. appeals court.

The dispute started in May when the FTC proposed changing a settlement reached in 2019 that required Facebook, which became Meta in 2021, to pay $5 billion.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Mark Porter)