Publishers want Brussels and London to stop Meta’s new AI terms
The European Commission says Meta must comply with EU law, while Britain’s competition watchdog has called the company in to explain.
European media giants have reached out to European Union regulators in Brussels and London, urging them to halt Meta’s recent AI-related terms and conditions. In a letter sent on Monday, the European Publishers Council, comprised of members like Axel Springer’s parent company POLITICO, called on EU Commissioner Teresa Ribera and Henna Virkkunen to press Meta to delay the implementation of the terms, set to take effect on October 30.
The group seeks the EU to scrutinize the terms against copyright and competition laws, requesting an urgent meeting with both commissioners. "The Commission remains committed to ensuring Meta complies with all applicable EU obligations, including competition rules and the Digital Markets Act," stated a Commission spokesperson, referencing the EU’s guidelines for Big Tech.
London’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has also taken action, with its chief Sarah Cardell informing British lawmakers that the CMA has asked Meta for clarification and plans to meet the company on Wednesday. The new terms concern businesses utilizing Meta’s tools for Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, or ads, encompassing nearly all newsrooms.
The dispute originated in the U.S., where Nieman Lab reported on the terms after receiving a tip from a small business owner. Originally, the terms allowed Meta to send automated programs to copy websites linked to those accounts and use the data to train its products, though there was no opt-out, and continued use after October 30 would be interpreted as consent.
Publishers argue that the terms would provide Meta with free content that other AI companies would typically license. Meta’s communications chief, Andy Stone, disputed the Nieman Lab report, asserting on X that the reported changes were untrue and that the updates aimed to enable Meta to pull accurate product information from shopping sites for advertising purposes, not to scrape news sites.
However, Meta later revised the terms, removing the word "train" and clarifying that they pertain only to advertising and business products. Publishers maintain that this change does not address their concerns, as Meta has offered verbal assurances that they can continue using its tools without sharing their content with AI developers, but the terms themselves do not guarantee this.
Written by urgent.news from Politico EU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
