Meta’s business terms could open news sites to AI scraping

Meta’s updated commercial terms, effective October 30, authorize the company to crawl websites “associated with” business accounts on Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp and use collected content to train its products. The definition of those products includes “AI at Meta,” bringing news content within the scope of the training provision.

Legal experts who reviewed the clause told Nieman Lab it could cover virtually every newsroom because business accounts on Meta’s platforms are widespread among news organizations. There is no opt-out, and continued use of Meta’s business tools after the effective date constitutes consent under the terms.

Matt Topic, a media and intellectual property attorney at Loevy & Loevy, warned that the provision could give Meta access to material worth many millions of dollars in licensing deals. Although court enforcement remains uncertain, he said publishers should assume the clause would be enforceable. How Meta determines whether a website is “associated with” a business account remains unclear, leaving the provision’s practical reach unresolved.