The Pulse
Meta Indefinitely Pauses Proposed Terms That Would Have Permitted Scraping of Business Account Users' Websites
Meta has indefinitely delayed proposed commercial terms that would have permitted it to scrape websites belonging to Meta Business account users. The pause follows repeated delays, legal challenges in Norway and Brazil, a UK investigation a
AI.info Team · Written with AI · fact-checked ·
Meta indefinitely delays its proposed terms
Meta has indefinitely delayed proposed commercial terms that would have permitted the company to scrape the websites of Meta Business account users. On Thursday, Meta took down the preview link to the terms and updated its Business Help Center to say the changes were paused and would not take effect on November 20, 2026. The update said: “We recently shared that we were updating the Meta Commercial Terms, Product Catalog Terms, Self-Serve Ad Terms, and Ad Creative Generative AI Terms. These updates are now paused and will not take effect on November 20, 2026. We are continuing to consult with stakeholders and will provide a further update when we have more to share. In the meantime, our existing terms remain in effect.”
Meta confirmed the indefinite delay in a statement to Nieman Lab. “We’re pausing the changes as we continue to engage with stakeholders and take our time to get this right,” a company spokesperson said.
Meta repeatedly pushed back the effective date
Meta, which owns Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, has repeatedly pushed back the terms’ effective date since Nieman Lab first reported on them on October 15. The terms were initially set to take effect on October 30, prompting global outcry among news publishers, politicians and trade organizations. On October 16, Meta removed the word “train” from the terms and limited the use of future scraped content to “advertising and business products.” On October 23, the company moved the effective date back three weeks, to November 20.
Last week, Meta said it would consult news publishers and industry leaders before putting new commercial terms into effect. Vice president of communications Andy Stone tweeted on October 28: “We’ve heard publishers’ feedback on our proposed ads and business terms update. We care deeply about our partners and do not plan to make policy changes without a full consultation with industry groups and leaders. We’re committed to getting this right, and as we expect this consultation could extend beyond November 20, in which case we’d delay implementation of the updated terms.”
Courts and the UK regulator act on the terms
Courts in Norway and Brazil have since issued preliminary injunctions blocking the terms from taking effect, following lawsuits by media organizations in both countries. The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority has opened a formal investigation into Meta. It is examining whether the company was “abusing a dominant position by imposing exploitative terms on publishers and advertisers.”
Two US senators asked Zuckerberg to withdraw the terms
In the United States, the proposed terms prompted bipartisan concern. At the end of October, Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sent letters to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking him to withdraw them.