Meta Postpones New Commercial Terms Following Backlash

Meta’s New Policy: Why the Process Was Halted

Meta has officially confirmed that the implementation of its updated commercial terms and advertising rules, originally scheduled for 30 October, has been pushed back to 20 November. A company spokesperson stated that this additional time is necessary to provide partners and stakeholders with a more detailed explanation of the changes and to clarify what remains unchanged. The decision follows sharp criticism from media organisations and business representatives.

The initial version of the updated terms would have granted Meta the right to use web scrapers—automated tools for data collection—to browse, index, and analyse websites linked to business accounts. The original text indicated that the company could use this data to develop its products and train artificial intelligence models. This specific clause triggered significant backlash, leading Meta to subsequently remove direct references to artificial intelligence from the text.

Media Protest and Antitrust Risks

The News Media Alliance, which represents thousands of American and Canadian media organisations, sent an open letter to Meta demanding the complete withdrawal of the changes. The alliance argued that publishers are being forced to surrender their intellectual property to a company that then uses that same content to compete with them for readers and advertising revenue. Media representatives have also filed complaints with antitrust authorities.

Meta is currently attempting to reassure its partners, explaining that the operation of its web crawlers will be transparent. The company emphasises that website owners can continue to use the robots.txt file, a technical mechanism that allows webmasters to block bots from indexing their content. However, there is widespread scepticism in the tech industry regarding the effectiveness of this method, as AI companies’ bots frequently ignore such restrictions.

What These Changes Mean for the Georgian Market

Media outlets and digital businesses operating in Georgia that actively use Meta’s advertising platforms and business tools should monitor these developments closely. Although these discussions are primarily focused on the US and Canadian markets, changes to global policy will eventually affect international partners. It is important for businesses to review their website’s robots.txt settings to ensure their content is protected from automated collection, unless they wish to integrate with these platforms. The period leading up to 20 November will be critical for Meta as it seeks to convince critics that its new data processing rules are fair and transparent.