Meta's updated commercial terms may allow crawling and AI training on publisher sites

Meta's updated Commercial Terms, effective October 30, appear to authorize automated crawling of websites associated with businesses that use Meta's platforms, according to The Verge.

The terms say Meta may use that outside content to "develop, improve, research" and "train" its AI products. Businesses that do not agree to the new policies "may stop all access or use of our Products for business or commercial purposes," the terms say.

Legal experts told Nieman Lab that this could let Meta argue its terms override robots.txt blocks, which publishers use to restrict crawlers. Meta says it has not changed how it uses web crawlers.