Meta Pauses New Scraping Rules After European Courts and Regulators Push Back

Meta has suspended the rollout of new terms of service for its business accounts following legal challenges and regulatory scrutiny in Europe. The company announced the pause on October 29, stating that its existing terms remain in effect while it consults with industry leaders. The delay comes after a court in Norway granted a temporary injunction to 180 media companies that sought to stop the rules from taking effect.

The proposed terms, originally scheduled for October 30, would have authorized Meta to use automated software to index, cache, analyze, and crawl domains associated with business accounts. Critics argued that the language permitted Meta to scrape content from news sites without payment. They contended that the data could be used to build competing artificial intelligence services. Meta maintained that the update applies only to its advertising and business products and does not alter its use of web crawlers.

Lene Eltvik Vindfeld, chair of the board at the Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association, said the court agreed that Meta holds a dominant position in the market and that the new terms were unreasonable. Her association represents newspapers that account for approximately 97% of Norwegian newspaper circulation. The UK Competition and Markets Authority stated on October 30 that it is investigating whether the terms constitute an unlawful imposition of unfair trading conditions.

Andy Stone, a Meta spokesman, posted on X on October 16 that the update was designed to pull accurate product information for ad recommendations, not to scrape news sites. His comments followed a report by the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University. The report, which cited three legal experts, warned that the terms could be used to argue that Meta can scrape news content to train AI products. Meta later removed the word "train" from the updated terms.

In the United States, the Association of American Publishers called on Meta to drop the new terms. Maria A. Pallante, the association's president and CEO, said in a statement that Meta is abusing its dominant market power by compelling consent from commercial users. She noted that Meta implicitly acknowledges that permission is required to use creative works to develop its products. No lawsuits have yet been filed in the U.S. over the new terms.

European regulators have also weighed in. Sara Simonini, a spokesperson for the European Commission, said the executive body welcomed the postponement. The commission is ensuring that Meta’s practices comply with EU law, which prohibits dominant companies from abusing their market position. Simonini also noted that the commission has asked AI model providers to disclose what training material they use, in line with the EU’s AI Act adopted in 2024.

The Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association said the postponement was not enough. Randi S. Øgrey, the group’s CEO, said the issue is about public access to trustworthy journalism. She outlined three demands: Meta must respect publishers’ reservations against scraping, AI use of journalism requires a separate voluntary agreement with payment, and publishers who do not sign the new terms should not be marginalized on the platforms.

Tim Cowen of the Movement for an Open Web called the move a win but warned that regulators must act quickly to prevent anti-competitive practices. He said the group will continue to monitor how tech giants use their market power. Meta said it does not plan to make policy changes without full consultation with industry groups and leaders.

The delay leaves the status quo in place for business accounts. Meta will continue to use its existing terms while it engages with partners. The Norwegian court’s injunction remains in effect pending a full assessment of the legality of the new terms. The UK investigation is ongoing, and the European Commission continues to review Meta’s practices under EU digital rules.