Meta pulls web-scraping line from its business terms

Meta has removed a line from its new business terms after publishers worried it could let Meta use their websites to train AI. Meta says nothing about how it crawls the web has changed. The story matters to anyone who runs a website and has a Facebook Page or runs ads.

What happened

Meta had updated its commercial terms, the rules for businesses that use its products. The wording said Meta could "use any content from" a business account's domains, web pages or URLs to provide, develop, improve, research and train its products, TechCrunch reports.

Legal experts quoted by Nieman Lab called this a "remarkable provision." They said it could let Meta scrape the site of any publisher with a Meta business account and train its AI on the content. TechCrunch says that provision has now been removed. It did not give the exact day.

Meta said the update did not reflect a change in how it crawls the web. A Meta spokesperson said the crawling terms it merged applied only to its ads and business products. The company said it had made that clear in the terms themselves.

Key facts

• Removed wording: a line letting Meta use content from a business account's domains, pages or URLs for products and AI training, per TechCrunch.
• Reach: Search Engine Journal says the clause covered any business use of Meta products, such as managing a Facebook Page, not only buying ads.
• Start date: the terms were due to take effect on 30 October, according to Search Engine Journal.
• Test credentials: the original wording also let Meta create "test credentials" to reach pages. Meta declined to say if that could get past paywalls, per Search Engine Journal.
• Meta's position: the update is "not about scraping news sites," and crawling is unchanged, per Search Engine Journal.
• Robots.txt: Meta says site owners can still use this file to control access, but neither updated document mentions it.

Background

Earlier Meta ad terms already had a crawling clause. Search Engine Journal says that older clause only covered advertisers' own domains and the links they gave Meta. The new Commercial Terms stretched it to every business using Meta products, including those that buy no ads.

AI training and copyright are still fought over. TechCrunch notes that Meta won a high-profile copyright case over AI training in 2025, but other cases against AI companies, Meta among them, are still going.

Meta also runs different crawlers. Search Engine Journal says one handles AI training and product improvement, and another supports Meta AI search. Site owners could block one and allow the other.

What it means for you

If you run a small website with a Facebook Page, the scare is over for now. The line that worried people is gone.

If you publish news or other work you care about, it is still smart to check your robots.txt file. That file tells crawlers what they may read.

Our take: the removal calms things down, but the question is not settled. The older ad terms already had a crawling clause for advertisers' domains, as noted above.

What happens next

The sources do not give new steps. Search Engine Journal says the updated terms were set to start on 30 October.

Our take: watch whether Meta publishes plainer crawling rules, and whether publishers ask for them in writing.

FAQ

Did Meta say it will scrape my website for AI?

No. Meta says the update did not change how it crawls the web, and that the terms applied to ads and business products.

What did Meta remove?

It removed wording that let it use any content from a business account's domains, pages or URLs to train its products, per TechCrunch.

Can I still block Meta's crawlers?

Meta says yes, with a robots.txt file. Neither updated terms document mentions it, so check your settings.

Sources

• TechCrunch
• theverge.com
• searchenginejournal.com