Meta removes language that may have allowed it to scrape news sites
The Verge Terrence O’Brien ● Covered by 3 sources
Meta pulled wording that seemed to let it scrape news sites for AI training. The backlash was swift because the terms looked broader than many expected.
Based on reporting by The Verge, Terrence O’Brien — read the original for the full story.
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Meta is changing its commercial terms again, this time to delete language that appeared to give it broad permission to use content from websites, including news sites, for AI work. The disputed text said Meta could use content from “such domains, web pages, or URLs” to “provide, develop, improve, research, train, and maintain the integrity of” its products and services under those terms.
That wording didn’t sit quietly. Neiman Lab and James Grimmelmann, a Cornell professor of digital and information law, were among those who read it as an unusually sweeping claim over material published on the open web.
After the backlash, the language no longer appears on the commercial terms page. Meta is not just tweaking a sentence here; it is backing away from a line that made people think it was reaching for news-site content with both hands.
The company has not said much in the source beyond the update itself. But the reaction shows how sensitive this has become: if a platform’s terms sound like a blank check to scrape publishers, people will treat it like one.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
Meta keeps discovering that legalese is not a stealth feature. If the wording makes publishers and law professors blink, the problem is the wording, not the readers. AI companies love broad rights until someone reads them out loud.
Read more about this at: The Verge