According to a report from Nieman Lab cited by The Verge, Meta’s updated terms appear to grant it permission to crawl and scrape websites “associated” with the businesses that use its platforms, including online publishers. The terms, which take effect on October 30th, state that Meta can use outside content to “develop, improve, research,” and “train” its AI products.
Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts said the company is “consolidating” its commercial and self-serve ad terms. However, legal experts told Nieman Lab that the change could allow Meta to argue its commercial terms supersede other blocking instructions, such as a site’s robots.txt file.
Why it matters
The terms raise questions about how publisher and business website content may be accessed and used for AI training, and whether standard blocking mechanisms would remain effective against Meta’s stated permissions.
Who should care
Online publishers and businesses that use Meta’s platforms should review the implications of the terms taking effect on October 30th.