Meta business terms that publishers fear could authorize broad crawling of websites tied to business accounts will not take effect until November 20, after Meta postponed enforcement from October 30. Publishers warned the language could let the company copy their websites to build artificial intelligence. Digital advertisers and publishers in the EU and the UK urged regulators to force Meta to halt the terms, and the Financial Post reported the EU antitrust regulator welcomes the postponement.
Key Takeaways
- Meta delayed business terms from Oct. 30 to Nov. 20 after publisher backlash.
- No versions of the terms include robots.txt language.
- News/Media Alliance asked Meta to suspend the terms before Oct. 30.
- News Media Canada wants Ottawa to intervene if Meta keeps the terms.
What the Meta business terms still allow
Nieman Lab first reported the updated Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms on October 15. They would allow mass scraping of websites “associated with” business accounts on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads. Virtually every news organization has at least one business account, and there is no opt-out.
POLITICO reported that a business that continues to use Meta’s tools after Oct. 30 will be deemed to have consented. The Financial Post reported that the new language said users of its products authorized Meta to employ tools such as web crawlers to scrape content from sites associated to the users.
On Friday, Meta communications chief Andy Stone responded on X that the Nieman Lab report was “false” and that there was “no change to how Meta uses web crawlers,” POLITICO reported. Late Friday, Meta deleted “train.” Nieman Lab reported that on October 16 the company removed “train” and limited the use of future scraped content to “advertising and business products.” As of October 23, Meta had made no other changes aside from the implementation date.
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| Oct. 15 | Nieman Lab reports the terms |
| Oct. 16 | Stone denies report; Meta later removes “train” |
| Oct. 22 | News/Media Alliance writes Zuckerberg |
| Oct. 30 | Previously set enforcement date |
| Nov. 20 | Revised enforcement date |
Why robots.txt is missing from the terms
Nieman Lab reported that no versions of the terms include language about respecting robots.txt preferences. Daniel Roberts said in a statement to The Verge the terms will go into effect on November 20 “to allow more time for us to explain to our partners and stakeholders what’s changing and what’s not.” He said content owners will still be able to use robots.txt to signal preferences.
On October 17, Nieman Lab reported, a Meta spokesperson said the company revised the language because it “wasn’t clear in the initial consolidation of terms that robots.txt preferences are respected.” Paul Deegan, chief executive of News Media Canada, told the Financial Post the revised terms “don’t actually spell out that Meta will abide by the restrictions, nor do they promise that Meta will limit scraping to identified bots.”
What publishers and regulators are demanding
The News/Media Alliance, representing over 2,000 U.S. publishers, wrote Mark Zuckerberg on October 22 demanding that Meta suspend the terms before October 30, Nieman Lab reported. The Verge reported concerns the terms would cause “severe harm.” The Financial Post quoted the group’s letter saying the terms “grant Meta extraordinary and disproportionate privileges to exploit the content of its websites for free.”
The World Association of News Publishers sent a similar letter the same day to Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer. Germany’s newspaper and magazine associations said “This is unscrupulous theft” and want Brussels to block the terms while it reviews them, POLITICO reported. The European Publishers Council called on EU competition boss Teresa Ribera and tech chief Henna Virkkunen to press Meta to put the terms on hold before they take effect Oct. 30.
A CMA spokesperson said Friday, “The CMA has been in urgent discussions with Meta this week on this important issue,” and will “continue to scrutinize these terms,” Nieman Lab reported. Theo Bamber of the News Media Association wrote that “this delay is welcome, but it is a pause not a solution.” News Media Canada has taken the publishers’ concerns to the Canadian government.
“Every publicly-hosted Canadian word, song and image created is up for grabs if Meta doesn’t reverse course or if the government doesn’t intervene,” Deegan said. He said blocking crawlers is not a practical option for publishers, who need to allow Meta’s ad crawlers access in order for their advertising to function.
What November 20 means for licensing
Matt Topic of Loevy & Loevy told Nieman Lab, “Publishers don’t need more PR statements or explanations.” They need Meta to “keep its hands off their copyrighted material and respect publishers’ terms of service.” Thomas Höppner told Nieman Lab that “Meta’s conduct constitutes a prima facie infringement of European Union competition law, and a textbook case for imposing interim measures.”
“My fear is that this is merely a measure by Meta to reduce the risk of court actions for interim measures,” Höppner said. Publishers say the terms would hand Meta content for free that other AI companies pay to license, POLITICO reported.
- After the Oct. 16 edit, the only later change as of Oct. 23 was the Nov. 20 date.
- Future scraped content is limited to advertising and business products.
- Deegan said publishers need to allow Meta’s ad crawlers so advertising can function.
- The CMA will continue to scrutinize these terms.
