From Ars Technica · · 1m 40s
Meta shelves AI training terms after global pushback
Meta indefinitely delays controversial update that would let it scrape publisher content for AI without opt-out, after courts and regulators worldwide blocked or investigated the plan.
In brief
Meta indefinitely delays controversial update that would let it scrape publisher content for AI without opt-out, after courts and regulators worldwide blocked or investigated the plan. Meta has indefinitely delayed plans to require business account users to allow extensive AI training on external websites, after weeks…
Meta pauses controversial AI training terms
Meta has indefinitely delayed plans to update commercial terms requiring business account users to allow extensive AI training on external websites linked on Facebook.
“We're pausing the changes as we continue to engage with stakeholders and take our time to get this right.”
The terms would let Meta scrape without limits
Legal experts warned the vague language could allow Meta to ignore robots.txt preferences and crawl vast amounts of off-Facebook content for AI training, potentially avoiding millions in licensing fees.
Publishers had no way to opt out
Businesses including news publishers involved in legal battles over unwanted AI scraping had no choice: to keep a Facebook page, they had to allow Meta to crawl any linked external sites.
Courts and regulators blocked the plan
Courts in Brazil and Norway issued preliminary injunctions blocking the terms after lawsuits. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority opened a formal investigation into whether Meta was exploiting a dominant position.
Publishers questioned Meta's word games
Theo Bamber, chief executive of the UK's News Media Association, argued that removing the word train from terms posed no real reassurance, since develop posed the same threat to publishers.
“Does Meta think we can't read?”
Meta promises consultation but lacks specifics
Meta says it will consult with publishers before implementing updated terms, but has not included specific language about respecting robots.txt preferences in its revised terms of service.
In short
Meta has indefinitely delayed plans to require business account users to allow extensive AI training on external websites, after weeks of backlash from publishers, courts and regulators.
