Meta indefinitely suspended policy updates that would have allowed the tech giant to harvest content from business websites for generative AI training, backing down following global resistance from news publishers, antitrust regulators, and courts across multiple continents.
Legal Scrutiny Halts Policy Updates on Automated Web Scraping
The policy reversal follows a cascade of legal actions and regulatory scrutiny that began after Meta published updates to its commercial terms. The changes, originally slated to take effect on October 30 before being pushed to November 20, would have permitted automated web scrapers to collect material from websites associated with Meta business accounts including those of journalistic organizations.
Automated website collection involves retrieval software gathering information from online pages without requiring anyone to visit and manually copy each individual page.
In Brazil, a state court judge in São Paulo on November 3 issued a preliminary injunction suspending the data-collection clause. The court ordered Facebook Serviços Online do Brasil Ltda. to stay off the portals of members represented by national media associations ANJ, ANER, and ABERT. The ruling threatened Meta with a daily penalty of 1 million Brazilian reais for non-compliance while demanding that all media outlets’ accounts and tools remain fully active without retaliatory restrictions. Furthermore, the decision cited the Federal Supreme Court’s ruling in ADC 51, which protects against relying on foreign corporate headquarters as a subterfuge to frustrate national jurisdiction, noting that forcing Brazilian news organizations to litigate in California would constitute an insurmountable practical and economic barrier.
The Brazilian action followed an earlier ruling in Europe: on October 28, the Oslo District Court granted a temporary injunction after ten Norwegian media companies and groups challenged terms that would have forced publishers to either permit the collection of paywalled material or abandon Meta’s platforms entirely. A challenge involving approximately 180 media companies also emerged across Norway’s wider media industry. In the United Kingdom, the Competition and Markets Authority opened a formal investigation on October 30 to examine whether Meta was abusing a dominant position by imposing exploitative conditions on publishers and advertisers. CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell stated that where a company holds a dominant position, it must not use that position to impose unfair terms. Meta responded that there were no grounds for the investigation, noting it had already committed not to change terms without consulting publishers and other stakeholders. News Media Association chief executive Theo Bamber remarked that Meta had given publishers an invidious choice of giving away content for free to power AI products. Additionally, the European Commission confirmed it received a complaint on the matter, while Meta lost an appeal in France against orders to negotiate with news publishers.
Publishers Question Traffic Value
Audience development experts noted that many publishers remained tethered to Facebook and Instagram for audience engagement and referral traffic, even as traffic figures moved. Digiday indicated that Meta’s platforms accounted for an average of 3.47 percent of global publisher traffic in July 2026, according to Chatbeat’s most recent data, which includes over 2,500 domains. Melissa Chowning, founder and CEO of Twenty-First Digital, noted that publishers watching to see if Meta would alter its terms or offer opt-out details were actively questioning whether referral traffic remained worth the trade-off.
Sens. Adam Schiff and Marsha Blackburn sent letters to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in late October asking him to withdraw the terms amid bipartisan concern over automated data harvesting.
Meta Halts Rollout Indefinitely
Following further pushback, Meta vice president of communications Andy Stone tweeted on October 28 that the company was committed to getting this right,
acknowledging that consultations would likely extend past the November deadline.
We've heard publishers' feedback on our proposed ads and business terms update. We care deeply about our partners and do not plan to make policy changes without a full consultation with industry groups and leaders. We're committed to getting this right, and as we expect this… https://t.co/t91Q1QU8mu
Meta confirmed that the rollout was halted entirely.
These updates are now paused and will not take effect on Nov. 20, 2026,
Meta
the company stated, adding that it would continue consulting with stakeholders before providing further updates while existing terms remain in effect.
Byline: mark.thompson business editor