Meta Delays Website Scraping Terms After Backlash

Meta may postpone the implementation of its controversial new terms, which grant the company broad authority to scrape business websites. These terms, initially set to take effect on October 30 and later delayed to November 20, have drawn significant criticism from publishers and lawmakers.

A spokesperson indicated that Meta is planning a "full consultation" with industry leaders. This process could extend beyond November 20, leading to a further delay in the terms' enforcement. However, the specific language of the terms has not yet been altered.

Publishers have voiced strong opposition, with some calling the changes "outrageous and probably illegal." A lawsuit has already been filed against Meta by Norwegian outlets. California Senator Adam Schiff has also urged Meta to reconsider the updated provisions, highlighting concerns about bypassing paywalls and security measures.

Meta has stated the terms are not intended for scraping news sites and will respect robots.txt preferences. However, legal experts point out that robots.txt is not legally binding and Meta's terms do not explicitly reference it, leaving content protection uncertain.