UK watchdog to investigate Meta’s publisher content terms

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Friday it would investigate Meta’s commercial terms over concerns that they could allow the company to use publisher content in AI products without consent. The inquiry will assess whether the terms could enable Meta to abuse a dominant position and unfairly harm businesses operating on its platform.

The regulator is also concerned that the conditions may be exploitative for publishers and advertisers. The provisions could permit Meta to collect material from publishers’ websites without permission and use it to develop and offer its own products and services, including AI features.

Meta has put the revisions on hold after planning to begin changing the terms Nov. 20. The company said there was no reason for a competition inquiry and pledged not to alter the terms before consulting publishers and other stakeholders.