# Revised Meta terms may still permit news site scraping, experts say

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/metas-ai-could-still-scrape-news-sites-legal-experts-say/
- Published: 2026-10-22T20:32:05+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-22T20:38:29+00:00
- Original publisher: The Verge
- Original article: https://www.theverge.com/tech/1017082/meta-terms-update-ai-training-concerns
- Topics: AI, Technology

## Key points

- Meta removed explicit AI training language from its business terms.
- Legal experts say broader wording may still cover AI development.
- Meta says robots.txt preferences remain in place.

## Summary

Meta has removed explicit wording from its business terms that said it could use website content to train its AI, after publishers objected. Legal experts say the revision may still leave room for Meta to use scraped material in AI development, so the dispute over what the terms permit remains unresolved.

The terms take effect on 30 October and apply to websites associated with business accounts. Cornell law professor James Grimmelmann says the wording still does not clearly restrict scraping entire sites, while attorney Matt Topic argues that using content to “develop” a business product could include training AI. Meta says the update does not grant new rights over robots.txt preferences and is not intended to enable free scraping of news sites.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.