AI News · The messy stuff ·
Meta delays new business terms to November 20 after scraping backlash
Meta has pushed back its updated Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms from October 30 to November 20. The terms would let Meta crawl domains tied to business accounts, and publishers have filed antitrust complaints and demanded the terms be withdrawn.
Key points
- Meta moves its new Commercial and Self-Serve Ad Terms from October 30 to November 20.
- Draft terms let Meta crawl domains tied to business accounts; AI training wording was removed.
- The News Media Alliance demanded withdrawal, and antitrust complaints have been filed.
What happened: Meta has postponed its updated business terms, which were due to take effect on October 30, Engadget reported. A spokesperson told Reuters and Fast Company that the company is "extending the effective date" of its updated Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms to November 20 to give it time to explain the changes to partners.
The details: The draft terms gave Meta the right to use web scrapers and automated tools to crawl domains, web pages or URLs tied to business accounts. They also said Meta "may use any content from such domains, web pages, or URLs" to improve and train its products. After objections from publishers and businesses, Meta removed the reference to AI training.
Who it affects: Affected parties have still filed antitrust complaints. The News Media Alliance, which represents news organizations in the US and Canada, sent an open letter demanding that Meta withdraw the revised terms before October 30. It argued publishers would be pushed to supply journalism to products that could compete with them "under duress and without compensation."
What to watch: Meta says it will clarify how it uses its web crawlers and that publishers can use robots.txt to signal their preferences to crawlers and AI bots. Reuters has previously reported that several AI companies' crawlers often ignore robots.txt instructions, which limits the protection that file offers.
Our take
Businesses that advertise on Meta should review the revised terms before November 20 and check what content on their linked domains Meta's crawlers may access.