Meta revises commercial terms after AI scraping backlash

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Meta revises terms after AI backlash

Highlights

Meta revised its commercial terms for business pages after backlash, narrowing web scraping scope but still excluding a commitment to honor robots.txt.
Legal experts and publishers warn Meta's revised terms, effective October 30, retain broad language permitting use of scraped data for business products, raising AI-related concerns.
Industry groups including the UK News Media Association and European Publishers Council are lobbying regulators to intervene before the revised terms are implemented.

Policy changes ahead of October rollout

As reported by Ars Technica, Meta has amended its streamlined commercial terms after a backlash over wording that critics said appeared to authorize extensive scraping of websites connected to business pages. A Meta spokesperson says the company clarified that the consolidated crawling terms apply only to ads and business products, and says the update does not change how Meta uses web crawlers.

The original language allowed Meta to use "any content" from websites posted on business pages to "provide, develop, improve, research, train, and maintain the integrity" of Meta products, services, or features. In the revised version, Meta removes the word "train" and replaces the broader reference to "any content" with language allowing it to "periodically pull updates" from business users' websites to support advertising and business products, as well as product integrity and security.

Meta says the scraping supports research and tools intended to help businesses create and deliver ads, provide users with information about products and services, and connect companies with interested customers. But the company does not add language committing it to honor robots.txt instructions, despite calls from legal specialists to make that protection explicit in the terms.

Publishers and legal experts keep pressure on

Critics say the revisions do not materially narrow Meta's ability to collect and use website data. Matt Topic, a media and intellectual property attorney at Loevy & Loevy, says publishers should remain concerned because the revised terms still permit Meta to use scraped content to develop business products, a phrase he argues is undefined and broad enough to include AI-related uses.

James Grimmelmann, a professor of digital and information law at Cornell Law School, says the updated text adds useful detail on permitted uses, but still leaves enough room for expansive interpretation. Benjamin Sobel, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin, says stronger protection would require Meta to expressly agree to respect robots.txt, because those files signal preferences but do not by themselves create legally enforceable limits.

Opposition is also widening among industry groups and regulators' stakeholders in multiple markets. The UK News Media Association, the European Publishers Council, and the U.S. News/Media Alliance are urging intervention, arguing that businesses and publishers should retain control over how journalism and other website content is used and be able to negotiate payment where appropriate. Several groups are pressing regulators to prevent the terms from taking effect on October 30.

Our earlier report on Ralph Lauren linking executive pay to AI metrics showed how retailers are increasingly turning AI adoption into a measurable business priority at the leadership level. We noted that the company replaced sustainability targets with goals tied to AI literacy and enablement, reflecting a broader shift as firms seek clearer returns on AI investment and embed AI into operations and governance.

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