Meta puts controversial web scraping policy changes on hold indefinitely
Meta was all set to allow scraping of sites associated with business accounts, but the plans have changed.
Meta postponed indefinitely its controversial plan to revise its terms of service, announced in October. The modifications, which encompass Meta Commercial Terms, Product Catalog Terms, Self-Serve Ad Terms, and Ad Creative Generative AI Terms, were initially intended to be effective on November 20, 2026. These updates were designed to permit the utilization of web scrapers to gather data from websites affiliated with Meta business accounts, encompassing those of media outlets.
However, the decision to indefinitely postpone the changes came after Meta received backlash from news organizations. In October, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed commitment to rectifying the issue, but it seems that commitment has extended the timeline indefinitely. Meta stated that they are still consulting with stakeholders and will issue further updates when more information becomes available, while emphasizing that the current terms of service will remain in effect.
Written by urgent.news from Mashable's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
