Meta removes language that raised scraping and AI training concerns
- Who
- Meta
- What
- removed language in its commercial terms that suggested it could use website content to train its AI
- When
- Quote
And now, The Verge reports that the provision has been removed.
What happened
Meta removed a provision from its commercial terms that legal experts interviewed by Nieman Lab said could authorize scraping publishers’ websites and using their content to train AI models, according to The Verge. Meta said the consolidated crawling terms applied only to its ads and business products and that it clarified this scope in the terms. The company maintained that its web crawling practices had not changed.
Read next
See the full storyMeta Revises Business Terms After Publisher Backlash, Says Further Delay Is PossibleReported by 3 sources
The story so far
Meta revised and postponed its proposed business terms after publishers challenged their implications for AI scraping, and now says implementation could slip beyond November 20 while consultations continue. Meta communications head Andy Stone said existing terms will remain in place until the update takes effect. The company had already moved the start date from October 30 to November 20. The dispute concerns permissions to use content from websites associated with business accounts promoting content across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. The Verge initially reported that Meta had removed the controversial language entirely; Ars Technica described the revision as dropping the word “train.” Legal experts told Nieman Lab that the remaining wording could still authorize AI training: attorney Matt Topic said permission to “develop” business products could encompass training. Other experts said the absence of an explicit commitment to respect robots.txt could leave room for scraping despite website owners’ blocking instructions. Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts said the update applies only to ads and business products, leaves crawling practices unchanged, and grants no new rights to override owners’ preferences expressed through robots.txt. Publishing groups in the UK, Europe, and the US have urged regulatory intervention, with the News/Media Alliance calling for the terms to be blocked.
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