Meta delays terms to Nov. 20 after pushback

Meta postponed the start of its updated commercial terms to 20 November 2026 after the News/Media Alliance—representing more than 2,000 U.S. publishers—demanded the clauses be withdrawn. The company said the change gives it more time to explain to partners and stakeholders what is changing, after the original date of 30 October.

What the terms allow

Under the updated terms Meta authorizes businesses that use its ads or business products to deploy automated software—including crawlers, bots and spiders—to access, index, cache and analyze the domains and URLs linked to those business accounts.

The language also lets Meta periodically pull updates from those sites and use content that users, agencies or service providers upload or post in connection with its products to provide, develop, improve, research and maintain them.

Meta says users assume all risks associated with AI outputs, shifting liability away from the platform.

Publishers contend that the terms are illegal and anticompetitive, arguing that the company’s market power could force them to provide content to train AI without compensation. They estimate Meta owes them nearly $2 billion a year and have asked for a withdrawal of the revised terms. Meta maintains that the clauses apply only to its ads and business products and says website owners can still use robots.txt to signal their preferences.