2026

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<p><strong>Meta has postponed the implementation of its revised Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms to November 20. Originally set to be implemented on October 30, the revised schedule come after some publishers and advertisers raised concerns regarding a new website-crawling provision. The outcome of this decision will determine who holds the right to use journalistic content in AI products.</strong></p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="strong-three-more-weeks-to-explain-what-meta-says-isn-t-changing-strong"><strong>Three more weeks to explain what Meta says isn’t changing</strong></h3>
<p>On 23 October, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/meta-delay-new-commercial-terms-criticised-by-publishers-advertisers-2026-10-23" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Reuters reported</a> that the complaints had been submitted to the EU and UK competition authorities. Meta dismissed the allegations about wanting to have unlimited rights to content published online. The company said that the postponement gives it a chance to give an explanation about its crawlers. It also reminded publishers of the fact that they have a right to exclude or allow the usage of their sites through robots.txt, a file giving instructions to automated bots.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="strong-publishers-call-the-delay-a-pause-not-a-solution-strong"><strong>Publishers call the delay “a pause, not a solution”</strong></h3>
<p>Publishers are looking for more than just a sense of security. UK News Media Association chief Theo Bamber referred to the postponement as “<a href="https://newsmediauk.org/blog/2026/10/23/meta-delay-is-a-pause-not-a-solution-says-nma-ceo-theo-bamber/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">a pause, not a solution</a>,” and urged the introduction of legally binding commitments.</p>
<p>In a letter dated October 22, <a href="https://wan-ifra.org/2026/10/worlds-news-publishers-call-on-meta-to-halt-scraping-clause-in-new-commercial-terms/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">WAN-IFRA</a> called for binding robots.txt protections, revocation of Meta’s permission to generate test credentials, measures preventing the bypassing of paywalls, as well as the possibility of opting out of crawling without losing access to business tools.</p>
<p>WAN-IFRA president Ladina Heimgartner <a href="https://wan-ifra.org/2026/10/worlds-news-publishers-call-on-meta-to-halt-scraping-clause-in-new-commercial-terms/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">summed up</a> the industry’s concerns:</p>
<p>Journalism is not raw material to be collected as a condition of being present on a platform.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="strong-what-the-disputed-clause-actually-allows-strong"><strong>What the disputed clause actually allows</strong></h3>
<p>The issue is in the language. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/legal/commercial_terms_preview" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Meta’s revised terms</a> allow the automatic harvesting of data from online content “associated with” business accounts for the purpose of creating advertisement and business products.</p>
<p>Meta has dropped the word “training.” However, legal experts <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/legal-experts-warn-metas-new-terms-still-grant-broad-scraping-permissions-despite-language-changes/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">told Nieman Lab</a> that “develop” may still be interpreted as AI training. Moreover, the new terms do not contain any explicit statement that robots.txt will be honored. Meta disputes that reading.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="strong-brussels-welcomes-the-pause-blackburn-wants-a-withdrawal-strong"><strong>Brussels welcomes the pause, Blackburn wants a withdrawal</strong></h3>
<p>The postponement has not contributed much to easing regulatory concerns. Although the European Commission welcomed the move, Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority said it would <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/meta-delays-rollout-of-terms-that-would-allow-broad-scraping-of-news-sites-legal-experts-are-still-skeptical/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">continue examining Meta’s terms</a>.</p>
<p>There is also an increasing call by publishers for better protections. Angela Mills Wade, the executive director of the <a href="https://www.epceurope.eu/post/european-commission-should-be-extremely-concerned-about-meta-s-dilemma-for-european-publishers-hand" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">European Publishers Council</a>, stated that there should be no reason for the company to gain control over publishers’ content simply due to it having a Meta business account. In the US, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/senator-says-planned-meta-commercial-terms-update-could-harm-us-businesses-2026-10-23/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Senator Marsha Blackburn</a> has even demanded that the company guarantee the withdrawal of the new terms altogether.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="strong-why-the-fight-reaches-past-newsrooms-strong"><strong>Why the fight reaches past newsrooms</strong></h3>
<p>The dispute goes beyond publishers’ control over their content. It could also affect the growing market for AI licensing deals. As <a href="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/cnn-licenses-journalism-google-embrace-ai" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Cryptopolitan reported</a> on October 15, CNN joined Google’s paid News AI pilot, which now includes <a href="https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/news/news-ai-pilot-update-publishers/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">more than 400 publications</a>.</p>
<p>Such deals may be harder to reach once platforms are allowed to access content more broadly under their commercial terms. Small AI developers may also suffer against those firms that have control over both distribution and access to content. The <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/artificial-intelligence-markets_d531d73f-en/full-report.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">OECD</a> points out that the current concentration of AI resources plus vertical integration entails risks for competition.</p>
<p>Still, publishers are not counting on licensing to deliver substantial revenue. The <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/journalism-media-and-technology-trends-and-predictions-2026" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Reuters Institute’s 2026 survey</a> found that only 20% of publisher respondents expected substantial AI-related income. Another 49% anticipated minor contributions, while 20% expected none.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Meta-delays-AI-content-terms-1024x576.png" alt="">
 <figcaption><strong>Meta AI Content Terms Delay: Publisher Revenue Expectations and Key Dates</strong>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Better tracking could help publishers negotiate. On October 2, the SPUR Coalition introduced a <a href="https://www.spurcoalition.org/updates/spur-content-telemetry-standard-v1-published" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">telemetry standard</a> to record when AI systems retrieve or cite their content. It could strengthen their bargaining position, although it cannot guarantee payment.</p>
<p>For now, publishers want Meta to turn its assurances into binding protections for crawling, opt-outs, and licensed AI use before November 20.</p>
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Meta postpones AI content terms to November 20 under publisher pressure

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