The key facts

  • The CMA is examining whether Meta is abusing its dominant position by imposing new terms on publishers and advertisers
  • Meta planned to introduce the terms on 20 November but suspended them
  • A Norwegian court temporarily banned the new terms, and the Paris Court of Appeal rejected Meta's appeal

Investigation in the UK

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into Meta: the regulator is examining whether the company is imposing 'exploitative' terms that allow it to use news publishers' content for its own products, including AI features, without giving media organisations sufficient choice. As euronews reports, citing a CMA statement, the review will establish whether the terms cause 'unfair detriment to news publishers and other businesses working with content' and whether they could constitute an abuse of Meta's dominant market position.

The essence of the dispute and Meta's position

The new terms, which the parent company of Facebook and Instagram had planned to introduce on 20 November but then suspended, would have allowed Meta to access content from publishers' websites and use it to develop its own products, including AI. The regulator notes that thousands of British companies rely on Meta to reach customers and audiences, so unfairly imposing terms could breach competition law. 'We have heard concerns from news publishers and other companies and are acting swiftly,' said CMA chief Sarah Cardell. A Meta spokesperson responded that the company 'has already committed not to change its terms without consulting publishers and other stakeholders' and is ready to explain its approach to the regulator.

Pressure on Meta in other countries

The British investigation has become part of broader resistance to Meta's practices. According to euronews, since May of this year more than 340 local and national news sites, including the Guardian, the New York Times and USA Today, have blocked bots that crawl internet archives, in order to prevent data collection for training AI models. This week, a Norwegian court temporarily barred Meta from applying the new user terms following a lawsuit by ten media organisations, which said the terms threatened their content rights.

The Paris court's decision

On Thursday, the Paris Court of Appeal rejected Meta's attempt to overturn an order by France's antitrust authority to negotiate in good faith with media outlets over neighbouring rights payments. In two rulings, the court found that Meta's actions had caused 'serious and immediate harm to the press sector' in France. The regulator ordered the company into negotiations in July after a complaint from two media group associations, noting that Meta continued to use their content without making payments after the agreements expired. The court also found that Meta had provided publishers with only fragmentary, opaque and unverifiable data on the use of their content. The publishers' association DVP, which includes AFP, called the rulings 'an important step'. Meta said it was 'disappointed by the decision' and is considering further steps.

What else lies ahead for Meta

In addition to its disputes with the media, Meta, according to euronews, is also fighting publishers over user terms that require professional users to grant it the right to collect content, including paywalled material, for training AI systems. The company also faces growing criticism of its platforms' design amid claims of harm to children and teenagers, and at the end of this month it will once again appear in court in the US alongside Snap.