As reported, the new terms would treat every business account on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger and WhatsApp as authorising Meta to crawl every domain associated with that business, along with any publisher URL shared by any user. The content collected could be used to develop Meta's advertising and business products, which include generative AI.
The News Media Association called the change an assault on journalism and asked the CMA to secure an immediate pause, to make sure holding a business account does not mean giving up access to publishers' content, and to be ready to designate Meta with Strategic Market Status if it refuses to change course. CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell has told the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee that Meta is a candidate for the next designation.
This delay is welcome, but it is a pause, not a solution. — Theo Bamber, News Media Association
Local publishers have the most to lose
For many local titles a large share of referral traffic still comes from Facebook. Leaving the platform is not a realistic answer to terms that come attached to having a page there, which is why the NMA argues this needs a regulatory fix rather than a commercial one.
What to check on your own site in the meantime
- What your robots.txt says about AI crawlers, and whether anyone owns keeping it current
- Which crawlers are actually hitting the site, from your server or CDN logs rather than assumptions
- Whether your CDN or hosting can rate-limit or block crawlers that ignore your rules
- Which domains, subdomains and archives are tied to your business accounts
- Who in the organisation would decide whether to accept terms like these, and on what evidence
The NMA's position is that Meta must not be allowed to override robots.txt. Whatever the CMA secures, publishers are in a stronger position if they already know what their site permits, who is crawling it and what that traffic is worth.
