Meta drops “train” from commercial terms after backlash
Original title: Meta drops the word "train" from its commercial TOS after AI backlash
Publisher groups want regulators to block the terms before October 30.
Meta removed the word “train” from its commercial terms after criticism over AI use of publisher content. Experts told Nieman Lab that, because robots.txt is voluntary, omitting it from enforceable terms could still let Meta ignore scrape blocks. UK, European, and US publisher groups have asked regulators to intervene.
Unconfirmed: Whether the terms are illegal, and whether Meta will ignore robots.txt, is argued by publishers and experts, not established.
- Danielle Coffey said the terms must not take effect on October 30.
- The European Publishers Council asked the European Commission to intervene.
- Theo Bamber urged UK regulators to stop the precedent.
- Experts said Meta did not add a binding robots.txt commitment.
From the original article
1 min read at arstechnica.com
Meta changes AI scraping policy but won’t add language respecting robots. txt.
By Ashley Belanger · arstechnica.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.