Meta removes language that may have allowed it to scrape news sites

Meta has updated its commercial terms to remove language that experts interpreted as allowing the company to scrape content from websites, including news sites, to train its AI models. The removed clause stated Meta may use any content from domains, web pages, or URLs to develop, train, and improve its products. Critics, including Neiman Lab and Cornell law professor James Grimmelmann, saw it as an attempt to circumvent robots.txt blocking instructions and use scraped content for free. Meta VP of communications Andy Stone and spokesperson Daniel Roberts initially denied any change in how Meta uses web crawlers, calling such suggestions false. In a follow-up statement to The Verge, Roberts said the crawling terms only applied to ads and business products, that robots.txt preferences remain respected, and that the update does not grant new rights superseding those preferences.

(Source：The Verge)