Meta removed language from its terms that could have allowed the company to scrape news sites for AI training.

What it means

Meta has removed a clause from its commercial terms of service that legal experts had interpreted as granting the company the right to scrape content from news websites for use in training its AI models. The deletion follows pushback from publishers and industry groups who were alarmed by the original wording. Meta had added the language in an earlier update to its terms, sparking concerns about unauthorized use of copyrighted news material.

Accuracy & sourcesGrounded

The claim is solid, based on a direct report from The Verge, which is a primary-source journalistic outlet that likely reviewed the actual terms-of-service change. The provenance tier (primary source) reflects that The Verge's reporting is closely connected to the official terms update. Multiple other outlets (PCMag, CryptoBriefing, The Register) confirm the same timeline and details, strengthening the claim.

How new

This change was reported on October 17, 2026, and is genuinely new — it reflects a recent policy reversal by Meta, not a resurfaced older story.

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