Meta’s new terms may allow it to train AI on news sites for free

Meta's new terms of service, effective October 30th, appear to grant the company permission to crawl and scrape websites "associated" with businesses that use its platforms, including online publishers. According to Nieman Lab, these terms allow Meta to use outside content to "develop, improve, research," and "train" its AI products. The policy applies to business accounts that promote content across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, and seems to let Meta bypass licensing agreements to train AI models on publishers' content. While Meta has struck AI licensing deals with CNN, Fox News, USA Today, and People Inc., these terms could give it access to a much broader swath of content. Businesses that don't agree "may stop all access or use of our Products for business or commercial purposes," the terms say. This comes after Meta launched a subscription requiring businesses and creators to pay to include links in posts and reels, prompting Nieman Lab to note that Meta is charging users to post links to content it will crawl for free. Meta did not immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment.

(Source：The Verge)