Overview
- Meta confirmed late Thursday that it has indefinitely paused updates to its commercial terms and removed the public preview, saying existing terms remain in force while it consults with stakeholders.
- The proposed changes would have required Meta Business account holders to let the company use content from linked domains and URLs for product development, a draft that originally listed 'train' among permitted uses before that word was removed.
- Meta narrowed the language to say scraped content would be used for 'advertising and business products' after criticism, but experts warned vague words like 'develop' could still allow AI uses.
- Courts in Norway and Brazil have issued preliminary injunctions blocking the terms and the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has opened a formal probe, increasing legal pressure on the company.
- Publishers warn the terms could undermine their control over licensing and ad revenue streams, and they are pressing for enforceable opt-outs or compensation while regulators and platforms sort out rules for web crawling and AI training.