Meta Delays New Business Terms to November 20 After Publishers Object to Website Crawling for AI
Meta has pushed the start of its new business terms from October 30 to November 20 after publishers said the terms could let it crawl their websites and use the content for AI. A Meta spokesperson said the delay is meant to give it time to explain what is changing, and that site owners can still use robots.txt. The News/Media Alliance had demanded the terms be withdrawn, and publishers in Europe asked regulators to step in.
Meta has bought itself three weeks, not changed course: the reports we read say Meta still plans to apply the terms publishers object to, and its explanation leans on robots.txt, which publishers say they cannot fully use against Meta's crawlers. Meta's updated business terms will now take effect on November 20 instead of October 30, The Verge and The Next Web reported on Friday, October 23.
What Meta said
A Meta spokesperson, Daniel Roberts, told The Verge the new date is meant "to allow more time for us to explain to our partners and stakeholders what's changing and what's not." Roberts said the extra time would let Meta explain "how Meta uses web crawlers and the fact that content owners will still be able to use robots.txt to signal preferences."
Why publishers objected
The Verge reported that the terms appeared to give Meta permission to scrape the websites of businesses that use its platforms and to use that material for AI training. According to The Next Web, the terms cover businesses that use Meta tools such as ads, Facebook Pages or Instagram business accounts, let Meta send crawlers to websites linked to those accounts, and are accepted simply by using those tools.
Meta removed language about "training" from the terms after the first outcry, both outlets reported. The Verge said legal experts argued that change does not rule out AI training, and The Next Web, citing Fast Company, reported that the disputed wording appeared unchanged and that Meta still plans to go ahead.
The News/Media Alliance sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday demanding changes, warning of "severe harm" to publishers, The Verge reported. The Next Web said the alliance, which it described as representing more than 2,000 US publishers, argued that publishers cannot really block Meta's crawlers because their ads need them to work. It quoted the letter as saying: "News publishers will be forced into providing their valuable journalism to support the development of products that may be used to compete with them."
Pressure in Europe
The Verge reported that digital advertisers and publishers in the European Union and the UK urged regulators to force Meta to halt the terms. The Next Web reported that European publishers asked EU and UK regulators on Wednesday to suspend them, and that Britain's competition watchdog has asked Meta to explain them.
Limits
- We have not read the business terms or the News/Media Alliance letter ourselves; the descriptions above come from The Verge and The Next Web.
- The Next Web attributes the new date to Reuters; we did not read the Reuters report.
- The report that Britain's competition watchdog asked Meta to explain the terms comes only from The Next Web, and we did not find a statement from the regulator.