Published on
The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into whether Meta is imposing “exploitative” new terms that allow it to use publishers’ content for its own products, including AI, without giving media organisations adequate choice.
The probe will examine whether the “terms and conditions” from the US technology giant “unfairly harm news publishers and other content businesses”, the Competition and Markets Authority said in a statement.
The CMA said the new terms, which the Facebook and Instagram parent had planned to introduce on November 20 before putting it on hold, could amount to an abuse of its dominant position in the market.
The watchdog will determine whether “Meta is abusing a dominant position by imposing exploitative terms on publishers and advertisers”.
Meta’s new terms could allow it to access and use content from news publishers’ websites to develop and provide its own products, including its AI features.
A Meta spokesperson said “we’ve already committed not to change our terms without consulting publishers and other stakeholders”.
“We welcome the opportunity to explain our approach to the CMA,” they added.
Thousands of UK businesses rely on Meta to reach customers and audiences, meaning an unfair imposition of the new terms could breach competition law.
“We’ve heard concerns from news publishers and other businesses and are acting swiftly to investigate whether Meta’s proposed changes may breach competition law,” said CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell.
European pushback
The British governments effort follow hot on the heels of action taking place across Europe and around the world against Meta’s proposed new rules and its practices in general in using media content.
Since May this year, more than 340 local and national news sites including the Guardian, the New York Times and USA Today have blocked internet archive crawler bots to prevent them from collecting data for training AI models.
A Norwegian court this week temporarily banned Meta from enforcing the new user terms after ten media outlets argued it would threaten their rights to their content.
And in France, the country’s appeals court rejected on Thursday an attempt by Meta to overturn an order to negotiate in good faith with French media over rights payments for information used on its social networks.
In two rulings, the Paris Appeals Court found that Meta’s conduct had caused “serious and immediate harm to the press sector” in France, affirming the position of the country’s anti-monopoly body.
The regulatory authority in July ordered the parent company of Facebook and Instagram to “negotiate in good faith” with French media on neighbouring rights payments — a form of copyright payments for use of information on social media platforms.
It said Meta’s conduct could be considered “abuse of a dominant position”.
Two associations of media groups had complained to the Competition Authority following a lack of progress in talks to renew deals of neighbouring rights payments.
The regulator noted that Meta was continuing to use the content of the media groups but not making payments to them since their deals lapsed.
The Paris Appeals Court found that Meta had in the negotiations with publishers provided only fragmentary, opaque and unverifiable data about its use of media content.
The DVP association of publishers, of which AFP is a member, called the rulings a “major development” and urged Meta to fully meet its obligations to media.
A Meta spokesman said “we are disappointed with the Paris Appeals Court ruling” and was considering what steps to take.
Meta is in the midst of another battle with media over new user terms and conditions that force professional users to give it the right to collect content — including content behind a paywall — and use it for AI training among other things.
The company is also facing mounting global pushback against its platform designs and features, especially amid claims of harms against children and teenagers, and is back in court in the US later this month alongside Snap.