Following intense pushback from users, courts, and regulators, Meta has indefinitely delayed plans to roll out a controversial update to its Meta commercial terms that would have forced Meta Business account users to permit extensive AI training on external sites linked on Facebook.
Key takeaways
- Meta paused the planned policy updates after facing weeks of global backlash and legal challenges.
- Legal experts warned the vague terms could allow Meta to bypass robots.txt files and crawl off-Facebook content.
- Courts in Brazil and Norway issued preliminary injunctions blocking the rollout.
- The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a formal investigation into the matter.
What did the Meta commercial terms change require?
Ars Technica reports that the update required businesses, including news publishers, to allow Meta to crawl any linked external sites without offering a way to opt out. Maintaining a business Facebook page meant accepting these conditions, which even demanded test credentials so Meta bots could bypass paywalls. Publishers warned this could help the company avoid millions in licensing fees.
How did global regulators respond?
The updates were originally scheduled for October 30 before Meta pushed the deadline to November 20. Organizations in Brazil and Norway filed lawsuits resulting in preliminary injunctions that blocked the terms. Meanwhile, the UK Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation into whether Meta used a dominant position to seize valuable AI training data.
What happens next?
A Meta spokesperson stated that the company is pausing the changes to engage with stakeholders and take time to get things right, meaning existing terms remain in effect for now. Business account holders and news publishers dealing with unwanted scraping will keep watching as international courts and regulators maintain pressure on the tech giant.
Frequently asked questions
The update required Meta Business account users to allow extensive AI training on external websites linked on their Facebook pages without giving them a way to opt out.
Publishers warned the vague language could let Meta ignore robots.txt files, crawl off-Facebook content, and bypass paywalls using test credentials, potentially dodging millions in licensing fees.
The changes were initially scheduled for October 30, and Meta later pushed that date back to November 20 before indefinitely delaying the rollout.
Courts in Brazil and Norway issued preliminary injunctions blocking the terms after local organizations filed lawsuits against the company.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a formal investigation to determine if Meta was exploiting a dominant market position to collect valuable training data.
Based on reporting by Ars Technica. Read the original article
