Meta pauses plan to expand AI use of linked websites for businesses

In short: Meta has paused planned updates to its commercial terms after backlash, keeping the current rules for Meta Business accounts.

What happened

Meta had planned to change its commercial terms for people who run Facebook pages through Meta Business accounts. Critics said the new terms could have forced businesses, including news publishers, to let Meta collect and use content from websites linked on Facebook for AI training.

AI training is the process of teaching an AI system by feeding it lots of examples, like training a student by giving them many books to read. In this case, the concern was that Meta could use automated tools to crawl linked websites and copy large amounts of text.

After weeks of criticism and legal and regulatory attention, Meta said it is “pausing” the changes while it talks with stakeholders. A Meta spokesperson told Reuters that existing terms remain in effect.

The proposal drew scrutiny around the world. Courts in Brazil and Norway issued preliminary orders blocking the terms after lawsuits were filed. The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened an investigation into whether Meta was using its market power to get valuable training data.

Publishers and legal experts also focused on robots.txt, a simple file on a website that signals what automated crawlers should not access (like a “do not enter” sign for bots). Meta said it would not use the terms to ignore robots.txt, but critics said the wording still left too much room for abuse.

Why it matters

Many businesses and almost every news publisher rely on Facebook pages to reach readers and customers. If keeping a page meant giving up control over what happens to content on linked websites, companies could have faced a hard choice. Meta’s pause gives publishers and other businesses time to push for clearer limits and real opt-out options before any new rules take effect.

Source: Arstechnica