GoKawiilMeta deletes commercial-terms clause that implied broad web-scraping rights
Meta has removed language from its commercial terms that critics said could allow it to scrape content from websites, including news sites, to train its AI. The clause had stated Meta could use content from domains and URLs to develop and improve its products. Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts said the terms were clarified to show they only applied to ads and business products, and that the change does not alter how Meta's web crawlers operate.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The episode highlights ongoing tension between AI companies and publishers over whether scraped content can be used to train models without explicit consent. Meta's quick reversal after criticism from legal scholars and outlets like Neiman Lab suggests the company is wary of the reputational and legal risks of appearing to override robots.txt protections. The incident could fuel broader scrutiny of how tech companies word their terms of service around AI training data.
- Meta removed disputed language from its commercial terms after backlash from legal experts and media outlets.
- Meta says the clause only ever applied to ads and business products, not news scraping.
- Meta maintains that robots.txt remains the mechanism for site owners to opt out of crawling.
Source: theverge.com — Terrence O'Brien, 2026-10-17
Published there as: “Meta removes language that may have allowed it to scrape news sites”
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