European publishers ask Brussels to pause Meta’s new business terms
The UK competition watchdog has separately sought an explanation from Meta, while the company says the changes concern advertising and business products.
The European Publishers Council has urged EU officials to seek a suspension of Meta’s revised business terms before their introduction on 30 October. Publishers say the conditions could give Meta free access to website content for artificial intelligence.
The council wrote to EU competition chief Teresa Ribera and technology chief Henna Virkkunen, requesting scrutiny under copyright and competition law. It also sought urgent talks with their teams.
European Commission spokesperson Ricardo Cardoso said officials knew of the revisions and publishers’ objections. He said the Commission was committed to ensuring that Meta meets its legal obligations, including those under competition law and the Digital Markets Act.
Separately, British publishers complained to the Competition and Markets Authority that Meta’s dominance effectively forces them to accept its conditions. The authority’s chief, Sarah Cardell, told lawmakers it had sought an explanation from Meta and planned to meet the company.
The conditions concern businesses using Meta tools to manage Facebook pages, Instagram accounts or advertisements. Businesses that keep using those tools after 30 October will be treated as having accepted the terms, with no option to opt out.
Meta communications chief Andy Stone said the purpose was to obtain accurate shopping-site product details for advertisements, rather than copy news websites. Meta subsequently removed “train” from the wording and said the terms concerned only advertising and business products.
The publishers’ council maintains that Meta’s verbal assurances are not reflected in the written conditions. It says those conditions do not guarantee that publishers can continue using Meta’s tools without making their content available for AI.
