Meta Pulls Terms Language That Suggested It Could Scrape News Sites for AI
One-line summary: Meta has removed language from its commercial terms that critics read as permission to scrape news sites and other web content for AI training.
Key points
- The removed clause said Meta could use content from specified domains, web pages, or URLs to "provide, develop, improve" its services. It no longer appears on the Commercial Terms page.
- Critics took the wording as a possible legal basis for pulling outside content, including news articles, into AI training.
- This is not Meta's first change to these terms: The Verge reports the company is updating them "again."
- It is unclear whether Meta ever scraped content under the clause.
Why it matters
News publishers and big tech firms are fighting over AI training data in lawsuits and licensing deals, so the wording of a terms page can matter when rights to content are disputed. The removal shows that broad usage clauses can be withdrawn under public pressure. It does not confirm any change in how Meta actually collects data.