Meta Delays Commercial Terms Update After Global Backlash Over AI Training Data Scraping
19 Sources
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Meta drops the word "train" from its commercial TOS after AI backlash
Meta changes AI scraping policy but won't add language respecting robots.txt. Hoping to quell criticism, Meta has dropped the word "train" from its "streamlined" commercial terms of service that kick in on October 30. Last week, Meta faced backlash after legal experts warned that the tech giant's
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Meta removes language that raised scraping and AI training concerns
Meta recently updated its commercial terms of use, declaring that the company can "use any content from [a business account's] domains, web pages, or URLs to provide, develop, improve, research, train, and maintain the integrity of" Meta products and services. According to legal experts
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Meta may use sweeping new commercial TOS to avoid millions in AI licensing fees
Meta "streamlined" its commercial TOS. Legal experts warn it's an AI power grab. Legal experts are sounding alarms that Meta will soon update its commercial terms to require business accounts to allow Meta to train AI on their linked website content, not just their social media posts. Kicking in
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Meta delays new business terms after publisher pushback on AI scraping
Meta is delaying the enforcement of its new business terms after publishers raised concerns that they could allow the company to scrape news sites for AI training, as reported earlier by Fast Company. In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts says the terms will go into effect
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Have a Meta business account? You're consenting to AI scraping now, legal experts say - ZDNET
* Meta Business Suite's new terms allow web-crawling on publication sites, legal experts say. * The change goes into effect on Oct. 30. * Meta says the updated terms are a "consolidation" of pre-existing conditions. Meta's new commercial terms allow its web scrapers, bots, and agents to crawl
[6]
Meta Sparks Alarm About It Scraping Websites for Potential AI Training
A change to the company's commercial terms is raising fears that Meta will have legal cover to grab content from third-party sites that have business accounts on Facebook and Instagram. A change to Meta's commercial terms of service is raising concerns that the company will be free to scrape
[7]
Meta grants itself right to scrape content from business customers for model training
Businesses using Facebook commercially may want to think twice about what information they share online. At the end of the month, Meta plans to introduce terms that would authorize it to collect content from websites associated with its business customers and use it to train AI models or otherwise
[8]
Publishers, advertisers call EU, UK antitrust regulators to suspend Meta's new commercial terms
BRUSSELS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Digital advertisers and publishers lobbied on Thursday for EU and UK regulators to suspend Meta Platforms' (META.O), opens new tab new commercial terms due to come into effect on October 30, alleging that these would give Meta an unlimited right to use their content for
[9]
Meta's AI could still scrape news sites, legal experts say
Meta has tweaked its business terms to remove language suggesting that it could freely train its AI models on news sites, like The Verge -- but legal experts say these changes aren't enough to address their concerns. "This does nothing to restrict the 'associated with your products or services'
[10]
Have a Meta business account? You're consenting to AI scraping now, legal experts say - ZDNET
* Meta Business Suite's new terms allow web-crawling on publication sites, legal experts say. * The change goes into effect on Oct. 30. * Meta says the updated terms are a "consolidation" of pre-existing conditions. Meta's new commercial terms allow its web scrapers, bots, and agents to crawl
[11]
European publishers ask EU and UK regulators to stop Meta's AI terms
Europe's biggest news publishers are asking regulators in the EU and UK to stop Meta from introducing new business terms that they fear could allow the company to copy content from their websites for use in AI products. The changes are due to take effect on 30 October. The European Publishers
[12]
'We've Heard You': Meta Tweaks Controversial Website-Scraping Terms Slightly
Late on Friday, Meta made some changes to a forthcoming policy, and acknowledged that the action was a response to criticism from business customers and members of the media. "We've heard you and want to clarify: the crawling terms we consolidated only applied to our ads and business products, and
[13]
Meta removes language that may have allowed it to scrape news sites
Language that experts say allowed the scraping of news sites to train its AI has been removed from Meta's terms. After backlash, Meta is updating its terms again to remove language that suggested it could scrape content from sites, including news sites, to train its AI. Specifically, the following
[14]
Meta drops 'train' from website-crawling terms
Publishers say the revised terms still let Meta crawl business websites, and do not rule out AI training. Meta has rewritten new terms that would have let it crawl and train its AI on the websites of businesses that use its ads and tools. Critics say the change does not go far enough. The company
[15]
Meta to Literally Every Business User: Nice Website You Got There
That's right: If a business uses Meta for any commercial purpose, Meta's new terms say it can do almost anything it wants with content from that business's website, like feeding it to Muse. A forthcoming update to Meta's terms of service allows Meta "or any entity acting on our behalf" to scrape
[16]
Meta removed AI training wording from business terms after backlash
Legal experts say the revised terms, set to take effect Oct. 30, could still let Meta scrape sites tied to business accounts Meta $META revised its commercial terms for business accounts on Oct. 16, removing the word "train" from the permitted uses of content it scrapes from associated websites,
[17]
Meta's new terms may allow it to train AI on news sites for free
Meta's new terms appear to give it permission to crawl and scrape websites "associated" with the businesses that use its platforms -- including online publishers, according to a report from Nieman Lab. The new terms, which go into effect on October 30th, say Meta can use this outside content to
[18]
Meta removes terms that raised concerns over website scraping and AI training - MEDIANAMA
Meta has removed language from its commercial terms that appeared to allow it to scrape websites linked to business accounts and use their content to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models. The change follows criticism from legal experts and news publishers, who warned that the terms could
[19]
Meta's AI Plans Put Website Owners on Alert Over New Scraping Rules
Meta's updated commercial terms could allow it to scrape websites linked to business accounts and use collected content to train its AI products, prompting copyright and consent concerns among publishers. Meta is facing criticism over updated business terms that could allow the company to collect
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Meta has delayed its controversial commercial terms of service update until November 20 after facing intense criticism from publishers and legal experts worldwide. The updated policy appeared to grant Meta sweeping permissions for web scraping content from business accounts for AI model training, potentially bypassing millions in licensing fees.
Meta has postponed enforcement of its controversial commercial terms of service until November 20, extending the original October 30 deadline by three weeks. The delay comes after intense global pushback from publishers, legal experts, and regulatory bodies concerned about the company's expanded web scraping permissions for AI training data
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Source: MediaNama
Controversial Language Sparks Publisher Concerns
The updated Meta commercial terms initially authorized the company to use automated software including web scrapers, bots, and crawlers to access content from websites associated with Meta business accounts. Legal experts warned this provision could allow Meta to scrape entire news sites and use the material for AI model training without securing licensing fees that could cost millions of dollars
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.Matt Topic, a media and intellectual property attorney at Loevy & Loevy, called it "a remarkable provision to bury in terms of service, given that this would give Meta access to material that would likely cost many millions of dollars in a licensing market"
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. The terms apply to all accounts using Meta Business Suite, which companies use to manage their Instagram profiles, Facebook pages, Messenger, and WhatsApp channels5
.Meta Removes Training Language But Concerns Remain
Following backlash, Meta removed the word "train" from its commercial terms of service and clarified that the crawling terms "only applied to our ads and business products"
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. The revised version now allows Meta to "periodically pull updates" from business users' websites to "provide, develop, improve, research, and maintain advertising and business products"1
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Source: Ars Technica
However, legal experts argue these changes don't go far enough. James Grimmelmann, a professor of digital and information law at Cornell Law School, told Nieman Lab that the "develop...advertising and business products" language "is still broad enough to drive a truck through"
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. Topic agreed, noting that "'develop' is broad enough to include 'train'" and that the revised terms still allow Meta to use scraped content to develop "any 'business product,'" which presumably includes AI business products1
.Global Regulatory Pressure Mounts
Publisher opposition extends far beyond initial concerns. The News/Media Alliance sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demanding the company revise its business terms over concerns they would cause "severe harm" to publishers
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. Theo Bamber, chief executive for the United Kingdom News Media Association, accused Meta of a "shameless land grab" relying on "the worst kind of arrogant tech platform bullying"1
.The European Publishers Council asked the European Commission to intervene, with executive director Angela Mills Wad stating: "Publishers must be able to decide whether and how their journalism is used, and negotiate fair payment. Burying such far-reaching claims in platform terms is no substitute for consent"
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. Digital advertisers and publishers in the European Union and UK urged regulators to force Meta to halt its new terms entirely4
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Source: The Next Web
Robots.txt Controversy and Enforcement Gaps
A critical issue remains Meta's refusal to add specific language respecting robots.txt files, which websites use to signal scraping preferences. Benjamin Sobel, a University of Wisconsin law professor, explained that since complying with robots.txt is voluntary, Meta could potentially rely on its legally enforceable commercial terms of service to override robots.txt instructions
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.Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts insists "content owners can still use robots.txt to signal preferences" and that "there is no change to how Meta uses web crawlers"
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. Yet legal experts point out that without explicit language in the terms committing to respect robots.txt, these assurances lack legal enforceability1
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Broader Implications for AI Data Scraping
The controversy highlights escalating tensions between AI companies and content creators over AI training data and copyright. Publishers including Ziff Davis have launched copyright lawsuits against AI companies for using their content without permission or compensation
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. Several AI labs have forged licensing agreements with news publications to avoid legal battles, making Meta's approach particularly contentious.The updated terms introduced new language about "test credentials" that legal experts warn could allow Meta to bypass paywalls and automate scraping more aggressively
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. This provision didn't exist in Meta's previous commercial terms, Product Catalog Terms, or Ad Creative Generative AI Terms, representing a significant expansion of Meta's claimed permissions3
.What Business Accounts Should Watch
Meta's delay until November 20 provides additional time for the company to "explain to our partners and stakeholders what's changing and what's not"
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. However, the fundamental structure of the policy remains unchanged, and Meta has not indicated it will offer opt-out options for business accounts beyond discontinuing use of Meta services entirely3
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.Publishers and businesses should monitor whether Meta adds explicit robots.txt compliance language to its final terms. They should also evaluate whether the broad "develop" and "business products" language could enable AI data scraping despite Meta's removal of the word "train." As courts continue weighing fair use questions in ongoing copyright lawsuits against AI companies, Meta's commercial terms could establish a precedent affecting how tech platforms access and utilize publisher content for AI model training.
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