Meta Removes AI Training Reference From Revised Business Terms

Meta has removed a reference to AI training from its commercial terms for business accounts following backlash against a planned update due to take effect later this month, Engadget Gaming reports. The revision changes how Meta describes the purpose of automated scraping, but the scope of the permissions remains a point of contention.

According to Engadget, the new language says automated scraping would be used to provide, develop, improve, research, and maintain Meta’s advertising and business products. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said the wording had been clarified to reflect that the terms apply only to those products. Stone also said the changes were not about scraping news sites and that Meta was not changing how it uses web crawlers, Engadget reported. That frames Meta’s response as a clarification of purpose, rather than an announced change to its crawling practices.

The earlier proposed language was broad. As described by Engadget, it said Meta could use web scrapers and other automated tools to access, index, cache, analyze, collect, retrieve, or crawl domains, web pages, URLs, and available content associated with business accounts. That earlier wording provides the context for the dispute: the issue extends beyond whether AI training is explicitly named to what material Meta’s terms allow it to collect.

Engadget also relays a different assessment from Nieman Lab, which reported that the revised terms remain a substantial expansion of Meta’s scraping permissions. Legal experts cited in that reporting said Meta could scrape news websites with seemingly few restrictions under the revised terms.