Meta updates commercial terms allowing web crawlers on business accounts
· Technology · The Hindu, Reuters
Meta revised its Commercial Terms effective October 30, permitting its web scrapers and crawlers to access any website associated with a business account on its platforms. The change, first reported by Nieman Lab, allows broad-scale scraping that could feed Meta's AI training, though the company later removed the word 'train' and limited permitted uses to advertising and business products. About 3.6 billion people use at least one of Meta's apps daily, and over 200 million businesses use its platforms monthly. Advertising revenue reached $59.36 billion in the quarter ending June 2026.
Why it matters
Businesses, publishers, and news organisations using Facebook or Instagram will face automated data collection by Meta's bots, potentially feeding the company's AI models despite stated respect for robots.txt preferences. The policy applies to any business or commercial purpose, including running Pages or buying boosted posts, with no opt-out available before the October 30 effective date.
Read the original report — The Hindu
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