WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - A U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Friday rejected a request by Meta to block the U.S. Federal Trade Commission from reopening a probe into its Facebook unit pending appeal.

The court had ruled against Meta on March 12, despite Meta's objections that it already paid a $5 billion fine and agreed to a range of safeguards. The court on Friday rejected Meta's emergency bid for an injunction pending appeal. The FTC wants to tighten an existing 2020 Facebook privacy settlement to ban profiting from minors' data and expand curbs on facial recognition technology. The agency has accused Meta of misleading parents about protections for children. (Reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Marguerita Choy)