Senator Blackburn warns Meta's new terms may exploit US creators

US Senator Marsha Blackburn has raised concerns regarding Meta Platforms’ plan to update its commercial terms, alleging the changes could harm American businesses and creators. Blackburn, chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, stated that the updated terms grant Meta sweeping authority to scrape content from websites associated with Facebook and Instagram business accounts.

While Meta previously removed explicit references to AI training from its terms, Blackburn argued the revisions do not go far enough. She noted that the language allows for extensive scraping of external websites to “develop” business products, which could compromise intellectual property without clear restrictions on AI incorporation.

In response to concerns from publishers and digital advertisers, Meta has delayed the implementation of these updated terms from October 30 to November 20. The company clarified that the updates apply specifically to its ads and business products and maintained that it is not changing its use of web crawlers. The new terms have also drawn scrutiny from antitrust authorities in the EU and UK regarding rights to use content for AI services.