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Meta delays new business terms after European pushback on scraping
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Meta postponed new business-account terms after media groups and regulators said the rules could let the company crawl sites without payment.
Based on reporting by AP
Meta said it is postponing new terms of service for business accounts after media companies and open-web groups argued the update would let it crawl associated websites without payment, the Associated Press reported Tuesday1.
The terms had been set to take effect Oct. 30 and would have authorized automated collection from domains tied to a business account, applying even if the client objected, AP said1.
A Norwegian court on Oct. 28 granted a temporary injunction suspending the terms at the request of about 180 media companies, AP reported, citing support from the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association1.
Britain's Competition and Markets Authority said Oct. 30 it had opened an investigation, saying forcing news publishers and other content businesses to accept the terms could amount to unfair trading conditions, according to AP1.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said on X that the update is meant to pull accurate product information from third-party sites for on-platform ads and recommendations, not to scrape news sites, AP reported1.
The company said Oct. 29 it was listening to feedback and that existing terms remain in place for now, and that it does not plan policy changes without consulting industry groups, according to AP1.
Norwegian publishers said the delay was not enough and listed demands including respect for scraping reservations, paid voluntary deals for journalism used in AI products, and no penalty on Meta platforms for those who refuse the terms, AP said1.
The European Commission said it had discussed the proposal with Meta, welcomed the postponement, and is checking compliance with EU rules on dominant firms and gatekeepers, AP reported1.
