# Meta narrows AI-scraping clause in its business terms

Published: 2026-10-17T21:36:39.073Z · Source: The Verge (https://www.theverge.com/tech/1013409/meta-removes-language-that-may-have-allowed-it-to-scrape-news-sites)
Source date: 2026-10-17

Meta edited its commercial terms, which take effect Oct 30, after Nieman Lab and legal experts warned the original wording could let Meta scrape news sites for AI training, per The Verge. The clause had let Meta "use any content from" domains, web pages or URLs "associated with" a business or ad account to "provide, develop, improve, research, train, and maintain the integrity of" its products — binding any business with a Meta Page or ad account. The revised terms drop the word "train" and tie permitted uses specifically to "advertising and business products," plus security and integrity maintenance. Meta VP of Communications Andy Stone and spokesperson Daniel Roberts say this isn't a change in crawler behavior: the right to crawl and cache content from domains tied to a business account remains in the text, only its stated purpose narrowed, and Roberts says robots.txt still governs access.

Why it matters: Meta narrowed the stated purpose of the clause but left the underlying right intact: it can still crawl, index and cache content from any domain tied to a business account, which is what let the original wording reach far beyond advertising in the first place.

## What this answers

**Did Meta change its terms to allow AI scraping of websites?**

Meta's commercial terms, effective Oct 30, originally let it use content from any domain "associated with" a business account to provide, develop, improve, research, train and maintain its products; after warnings from Nieman Lab and legal experts, Meta dropped the word "train" and narrowed the stated purpose to advertising and business products, per The Verge.

**Does robots.txt still block Meta's crawlers under the new terms?**

Yes, according to Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts, who told The Verge the edited terms don't give Meta new rights to override a site's robots.txt preferences and don't change how its crawlers behave.


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