AI BriefingMeta revises commercial terms to remove 'train' but retains broad scraping rights for AI business products
·2026.10.19 00:31
Key point
Legal experts warn that despite removing the word 'train', Meta's updated terms allow scraping of websites associated with business accounts for any 'advertising and business products', potentially superseding robots.txt preferences.
Details
- Meta removed the word "train" from its upcoming commercial terms of service for business accounts following public scrutiny, but legal experts argue the revised language still permits broad scraping of websites associated with those accounts.
- The new terms, effective October 30, authorize Meta to use automated software to crawl domains linked to business accounts for "advertising and business products," a category experts say is broad enough to include AI model development.
- Meta claims the changes clarify that robots.txt preferences are respected, but the revised terms do not include specific language enforcing this, and experts note that robots.txt compliance is currently voluntary and not legally binding.
- Major publishing associations, including the European Publishers Council and the News/Media Alliance, have condemned the terms as an abuse of market power and are calling for regulatory intervention.
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