Meta postpones business terms after publishers challenge website crawling
The News/Media Alliance has demanded withdrawal of the terms, while European publishers have sought intervention from EU and UK regulators.
Meta has moved the effective date of revised business terms from 30 October to 20 November following objections from publishers over website crawling, Reuters reported. A company spokesperson said the postponement would give Meta more time to explain the changes to partners and stakeholders.
Businesses using tools including Meta ads, Facebook Pages and Instagram business accounts would accept the terms through continued use. The provisions allow automated collection of material from websites connected to those accounts for development of Meta’s advertising and business products.
The News/Media Alliance represents more than 2,000 US publishers. In a letter to Mark Zuckerberg demanding withdrawal, it argued that publishers cannot effectively bar Meta’s crawlers because their advertising depends on them. The group also warned that collected journalism could support products competing with publishers.
Meta removed the word “train” following criticism, but publishers argue the revised language could still permit AI training. Fast Company reported that the disputed wording appeared unchanged after the postponement and that Meta intended to proceed. Meta’s spokesperson said website owners could continue expressing crawling preferences through robots.txt files.
European publishers have also requested that EU and UK regulators suspend the terms. Britain’s competition watchdog has asked Meta for an explanation.
