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 was all set to make a controversial change to its terms of service back in October, but after a delay into November, the changes have been pushed aside indefinitely.
Mark Zuckerberg's company published a quick update (spotted by Nieman Lab) confirming that previously announced changes to its Meta Commercial Terms, Product Catalog Terms, Self-Serve Ad Terms, and Ad Creative Generative AI Terms would not take effect on Nov. 20 as initially planned. These changes, which Nieman Lab originally reported on in October, would have allowed the use of web scrapers to collect material from websites associated with Meta business accounts, including those of journalistic organizations.
Originally, these changes were set to go into effect on Oct. 30, before controversy prompted Meta to delay to Nov. 20. Now, Meta has confirmed that the changes will be delayed indefinitely.
"These updates are now paused and will not take effect on Nov. 20, 2026," Meta's statement read. "We are continuing to consult with stakeholders and will provide a further update when we have more to share. In the meantime, our existing terms remain in effect."
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When these changes were first announced, news organizations were (perhaps understandably) unhappy about their content being taken in that manner. Additionally, courts in Brazil took action to prevent that from happening.
At the end of October, Meta executive Andy Stone took to X to say that the company is "committed to getting this right," but evidently that commitment means the changes cannot go into effect anytime soon.
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