Ars Technica AIOct 16, 2026 23:41

Meta's New Commercial TOS Requires Businesses to Allow AI Training on Linked Website Content

Meta is slated to update its commercial terms of service on October 30, requiring business accounts to permit AI training on content from their linked websites, not just their social media posts. The update reportedly offers no opt-out, with Meta suggesting businesses stop using its services if they disagree. Legal experts and news publishers flag the change as a way for Meta to sidestep potentially millions in AI content licensing fees. The move escalates the broader fight over whether AI train

AI Brief

It signals a major platform policy shift that could affect any business or publisher whose content is linked through Meta accounts, with direct implications for AI data licensing.

Legal experts are sounding alArms that Meta will soon update its commercial terms to require business accounts to allow Meta to train AI on their linked website content, not just their social media posts.

Kicking in on October 30, the TOS update won’t allow businesses to opt out, instead suggesting that businesses stop using Meta services if they won’t agree to let Meta bots freely crawl their linked content.

As Nieman Lab reported Thursday, this will affect all business accounts but is particularly shocking for news publishers who could perhaps charge Meta millions in licensing fees to continually access their articles for AI training. Currently news organizations are fighting a battle with OpenAI over whether such training without licensing is fair use, and Meta's terms seemingly risk granting it sweeping permissions, no matter which way the court leans.

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Meta's New Commercial TOS Requires Businesses to Allow AI Training on Linked Website Content

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