Meta delays commercial terms update amid US Senator's concerns

by@Reuters

Summary

On October 23, 2026, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn expressed concerns regarding Meta Platforms' planned updates to its commercial terms, suggesting they could negatively impact American businesses and creators. Blackburn, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, highlighted that the revisions may allow Meta to extensively scrape content from external websites associated with its platforms. She pointed out that while Meta had previously amended its terms to address AI training concerns, the new language does not sufficiently protect intellectual property rights, especially for American news publishers and small businesses that depend on Meta for audience engagement. This issue comes amid increasing scrutiny from EU and UK antitrust authorities reviewing complaints about Meta's content rights as it relates to its AI services.

Tokens

$META

Analysis

Meta Platforms: Meta Platforms operates major social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram, focusing on advertising, content distribution, and technology development. The company announced an update to commercial terms for business accounts that would expand its rights to use associated content. It later delayed the planned rollout from October 30 to November 20 to address feedback from publishers and advertisers. Marsha Blackburn: Marsha Blackburn is a Republican US Senator from Tennessee who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. She issued a public letter criticizing Meta's proposed commercial terms changes as an attempt to exploit creators and businesses through broad content scraping. Blackburn called for Meta to withdraw the updates and engage with stakeholders to safeguard intellectual property. AI Content Use: Tech companies face growing pushback from publishers and creators over the use of online content to train AI systems without explicit permission. Regulatory Scrutiny: EU and UK antitrust authorities are reviewing complaints about Meta's commercial terms related to content rights for AI services.

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