Norwegian court pauses Meta’s proposed AI scraping terms

Norwegian media groups have won a temporary block on Meta’s proposed business terms for Facebook and Instagram, preventing them from taking effect before the Oslo District Court determines whether they are legal. The ruling means Meta cannot impose the terms scheduled to begin Nov. 20, and the company was ordered to pay 1 million Norwegian kroner, about £81,000, in legal costs.

The case concerns terms that would allow automated tools to collect material from websites linked to business accounts. Publishers argued that Meta could use the terms to scrape articles, photographs and video, including paywalled journalism, and reuse material beyond content posted directly to its platforms.

As reported earlier this month, the Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association, known as MBL, sought emergency relief on behalf of 10 news organisations that said deleting Facebook and Instagram accounts was their only means of refusing the terms. The group includes NRK, TV 2, Schibsted, Amedia, Polaris, Aller and NTB, alongside other Norwegian publishers.

MBL said the proposed arrangement would force publishers to choose between retaining control of their reporting and maintaining access to audiences on Meta’s platforms. NRK legal director Olav Nyhus said the public broadcaster could not simply leave because Facebook and Instagram had become integral distribution channels.

Meta originally announced the commercial-terms change on Oct. 8 and planned to introduce it on Oct. 30. It postponed that date to Nov. 20 after opposition from publishers and competition authorities.

The company had removed an explicit reference to AI training from a revised version of the terms. But publishers maintained that language permitting use of collected material to develop, improve, research and maintain advertising and business products could still encompass generative-AI services. Meta said it would respect robots.txt restrictions on AI scraping, although that safeguard was not included in the proposed contractual terms.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said the company would carry out a full consultation with industry groups and leaders before changing the policy. Existing terms will remain in force during that process, and Meta said it would defer implementation again if consultation extends past Nov. 20.

The challenge has become part of a wider European dispute over publishers’ leverage against large platforms. Publisher associations in Denmark and Sweden have also raised the terms with competition authorities, while the UK Competition and Markets Authority said it was discussing the issue urgently with Meta. The European Publishers Council has called for binding contractual safeguards that preserve publishers’ control over AI uses and their ability to negotiate licences and payment.

Fjell-Ljom, a Norwegian local newspaper, had said it would delete its official Facebook page and leave Meta from Jan. 1 in response to the proposed terms.