Ten Norwegian media groups have asked the Oslo District Court to freeze Meta business terms before they take effect on 20 November. They argue the rules would let the owner of Facebook and Instagram collect articles, photos and video, including paywalled work, unless professional accounts are deleted. The request, reported on 27 October, seeks a provisional injunction while a court tests whether the terms are lawful.
Key Takeaways
- Ten Norwegian media groups asked Oslo’s court to block Meta’s new terms.
- They say the terms allow scraping of articles, photos, video and paywalled content.
- Meta delayed the terms to 20 November and removed explicit AI training language.
- NRK and MBL say Norway is, as far as they know, first to court.
Who is asking the Oslo court to intervene
NRK reported that NRK, TV 2, Schibsted, Amedia, Polaris, Aller, DN, Mentor Medier, NTB and Hordaland Folkeblad have asked Oslo tingrett to stop the terms until a court decides if they are legal. Those outlets belong to Mediebedriftenes Landsforening (MBL), the Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association, Anadolu Agency and NRK reported. The Local Norway named NRK, Schibsted, Amedia, Polaris, Aller and NTB among the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs say the terms would bind every professional account — media, companies and retailers — with no way to object except by deleting the account.
What the Meta business terms would allow
MBL argues Meta would gain the right to scrape every article, photo and video editorially controlled outlets publish, including material on their own sites and behind a paywall. The publishers do not want that work used for AI training or spread without prior approval, NRK reported.
Anadolu Agency reported that an earlier draft’s language on using collected material to “train” Meta products raised concerns over copyrighted news being used for AI development. Meta removed that reference. The revised terms say automated crawling is intended to develop, improve, research and maintain advertising and business products, while still allowing scrapers, bots and crawlers to collect content from sites linked to business users.
| Version | What the sources report |
|---|---|
| Earlier draft | Language on using collected material to “train” Meta products |
| Revised terms | Crawling to develop, improve, research and maintain advertising and business products |
| Tools still allowed | Web scrapers, bots and crawlers on sites linked to business users |
| Publisher claim | Scraping of articles, photos and video, including paywalled content |
Lene Eltvik Vindfeld, chair of MBL, said in a statement reported by The Local: “The fear is that the companies will use this power to secure rights over journalistic content.” She added: “Meta uses media groups’ investments to develop artificial intelligence services that compete with them directly. This is both unacceptable and distorts competition.”
Dependence on Facebook and Instagram
NRK legal director Olav Nyhus said they “in no way” want Meta to be able to use their content to further strengthen platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, Anadolu reported. He said ending those agreements is not easy, because the platforms have become important channels for disseminating information. He told NRK that media have become dependent on them to reach the public, and that NRK manages third-party rights on its content pages.
What Meta is doing is destroying the entire financial basis for journalism.
He added: “We believe that Meta’s conduct and terms are a clear violation of competition law.” Vindfeld told Anadolu: “We believe that this should be legally assessed to see if this is actually in line with Norwegian law.” NRK reported that she called the terms an abuse of a dominant position and an obstacle to spreading journalism to the Norwegian public.
Meta told AFP it delayed the user terms until 20 November “to allow more time for us to explain to our partners and stakeholders what’s changing and what’s not,” The Local reported. It had not answered NRK about this lawsuit when E24 and NRK published. That postponement is the shift described in Meta’s decision to push the business terms to 20 November.
- 14 October: MBL and NRK threatened to sue over fraudulent ads impersonating them.
- 27 October: Outlets reported the request to block the new terms.
- 20 November: The revised business terms are due to take effect.
- 1 January 2027: Local paper Fjell-Ljom in Røros plans to delete its Facebook page and leave Meta.
NRK and MBL say Norway is, as far as they know, the first country to take these terms to court. E24 reported the same point as probably the first. Publishers outside Norway have complained that the rules would give Meta an unlimited right to use their content for AI services. Meta has rejected those claims. MBL says social media remains an important place for Norwegians to get news.
What the filing means for publishers
The near-term question is whether a temporary order can hold the current contract in place. If Oslo grants the injunction, professional accounts need not accept the new terms while legality is tested. If it refuses, the choice the plaintiffs describe returns: accept automated collection, including of paywalled work, or delete the accounts used to reach audiences.
The revised wording does not close that choice. Crawling for advertising and business products still reaches sites linked to business accounts, and publishers treat that permission as a claim on reporting they paid to produce. That is why dropping the word train has not ended the dispute.
