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Technology · North America

Meta narrows scraping terms after criticism of AI content use

Meta said it clarified its terms for business and commercial products after criticism of proposed website-scraping powers. A Meta spokesperson said the crawling provisions apply to its advertising and business products, and the revised wording clarifies that scope.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 6 outlets' reporting · Full text read from 1 of 6 outletsHow it's made

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6 outletsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Center OnlyL 0 · C 4 · R 0 · 2 unrated
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Photo: InvadingInvader / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What happened

Key facts

  • Meta said it had clarified its updated terms of service for business and commercial products.
  • The initial proposed terms allowed Meta to use automated software to collect any content to develop its offerings, including artificial intelligence products.
  • Legal and media experts criticized the initial proposed terms as unfair to content creators.
  • Meta announced Friday evening that it had clarified its updated terms for business and commercial products.
  • The revised terms appear to remove some explicit language, but the article says questions remain.
  • Meta said its crawling terms apply only to its advertising and business products.
  • Meta announced the clarifications Friday evening after criticism of proposed terms for its business and commercial products.
  • The initial terms would have allowed Meta to use automated software to collect website content to develop its offerings, according to legal and media experts cited in the article.

The brief

Meta revised language in its terms for business and commercial products after criticism over provisions that legal and media experts said could give the company broad power to collect material from business users’ websites for its AI products. The account, published by courant.com, says Meta announced the change Friday evening and described it as a clarification.

The earlier proposal had drawn objections from some legal and media experts, who characterized it as unfair to content creators. According to courant.com’s account, those experts said the proposed terms would have allowed Meta to scrape business users’ websites for AI-related content without a contract or compensation.

That description is attributed to the experts; it is not presented as a statement from Meta. Meta’s stated position focused on the scope of the crawling provisions. A spokesperson said they applied only to Meta’s advertising and business products, and that the revised terms made that scope clearer.

The account does not say the spokesperson addressed the experts’ concerns about contracts or compensation. The revised wording describes automated software collecting content for purposes that include advertising and business products. It also includes other rationales, according to the account.

The excerpt reproduces the phrase “maintain the integrity and security of Meta Company Products” as one of them. The account does not identify who made the closing criticism that the revised wording remained unacceptable. The terms were set to take effect on Oct. 30, according to courant.com. The account does not say that Meta changed that planned date.

Crypto Briefing’s headline separately says Meta removed controversial scraping language from its commercial terms; that headline supports the removal claim but provides no further details about the specific wording or Meta’s explanation.

The account therefore describes two distinct points: experts’ criticism of the earlier proposal’s reach and lack of compensation, and Meta’s explanation that the crawling terms cover only advertising and business products. The spokesperson characterized the revision as clarifying scope.

The reported text still describes automated collection of content, while the account does not specify how the revised terms would apply in particular cases.

Why it matters

  • Business users’ website content is the material at issue: experts said the earlier proposal could permit Meta to collect it for AI products without contracts or compensation.
  • Content creators were the specific group whose interests legal and media experts said the earlier terms treated unfairly.
  • Meta’s stated boundary is that the crawling provisions apply only to its advertising and business products; the revised wording also describes automated content collection.

What to watch next

  • Whether Meta’s terms take effect on Oct. 30, the date stated in the account.
  • Whether Meta provides further explanation of how it will apply the stated limit to advertising and business products.
  • Whether legal and media experts who criticized the earlier proposal accept the revised wording.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
6 source articles · 6 unique outlets · 3 distinct reports
Coverage mix: Center Only· 4 Center
Where the outlets are based: Unknown 83% · US/Canada 17%
Coverage mix
Center Only
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
4 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 2 unrated outlets are not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
6 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (4 of 4 rated sources); comparatively few Left or Right-rated outlets have published on the event.
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among outlets based in Unknown (5 of 6 geographically-identified sources).
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

Updat3 does not yet have enough full reports to compare how outlets framed this story.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. The U.S. Congress passed the Copyright Act, including the fair-use factors in Section 107.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  2. Mark Zuckerberg and his co-founders launched Facebook.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation began to apply.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. Facebook announced that its parent company would be called Meta.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith that fair use depends on the specific use and its purpose.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. Meta introduced its Meta AI assistant at the Meta Connect event.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. Meta released its Llama 3 language model.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  8. Meta said it planned to use public posts from adult Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union to develop AI.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  9. Meta paused its European Union plan after complaints and a request from Ireland’s Data Protection Commission.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

Meta introduced its Meta AI assistant at Meta Connect on Sept. 27, 2023, and released the Llama 3 language model on April 18, 2024, as it expanded its generative-AI products.

In May 2024, Meta said it would use public posts from adult Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union to develop AI; after complaints and a request from Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, it paused that plan in June 2024.

Original sources

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