Facebook owner Meta under investigation by UK competition watchdog over plans to ‘steal’ publishers’ content to train its AI models by imposing ‘exploitative terms’ on publishers

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The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened an investigation into proposed changes to Meta’s commercial terms after news publishers raised concerns about how their content could be used to develop artificial intelligence. The regulator will examine whether the owner of Facebook and Instagram is using its market position to impose unfair conditions on businesses that depend on its platforms.

Publishers fear the revised terms could allow Meta to collect material they post on its services and use it to train AI models without seeking separate permission or paying for it. Their concern is that withdrawing from Meta’s platforms may be commercially difficult when those services remain a way for audiences to find news. Meta contests the publishers’ account of what the changes would allow.

CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said the regulator had heard concerns from news publishers and other businesses and would investigate whether the proposals might breach competition law. She said a company in a dominant position must not use that position to impose unfair terms. The opening of an investigation does not establish that Meta has broken the law.

The dispute has already affected the timetable. According to the reports, Meta delayed the proposed terms, which had been due to take effect on 30 October, and extended the existing terms until at least 20 November. Meta said it had heard publishers’ feedback and wanted more time to consult industry groups and explain the changes.

Industry representatives have criticised the proposal on both sides of the Atlantic. Theo Bamber of the UK’s News Media Association said publishers faced a choice between accepting Meta’s terms and leaving platforms used by millions of readers. Danielle Coffey of the US News Media Alliance argued that the proposal could weaken the market for licensing publishers’ work. Those are the organisations’ assessments; the precise rights the revised terms would give Meta remain in dispute.

Several British parliamentarians welcomed the CMA’s intervention. They argued that the regulator should act before any potential harm to publishers takes effect. The matter also sits within a wider debate over how AI companies obtain and pay for material used to train their systems, though the CMA’s investigation concerns Meta’s proposed terms and its conduct under UK competition law. Its outcome has yet to be determined.

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