Meta delays AI-scraping Commercial Terms to November 20 after publisher backlash and EU/UK regulator pressure

On October 23, 2026, Meta Platforms said it will delay the effective date of its updated Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms from October 30 to November 20, 2026, 'to allow more time for us to explain to our partners and stakeholders what's changing and what's not,' a Meta spokesperson said in an email reported by Reuters (CNA/Reuters, Oct 23). The move follows complaints from publishers and digital advertisers to EU and UK antitrust regulators that the new crawling clause gives Meta an unlimited right to use their content for its AI services; Meta rejects that reading. The spokesperson said Meta will explain how it uses web crawlers and that content owners will still be able to use robots.txt to signal preferences, but Meta has not said it will change the wording of the terms. The delay follows the News/Media Alliance's October 22 open letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg demanding full withdrawal of the terms, and separate letters from the World Association of News Publishers to Meta's global affairs chief Joel Kaplan; four European publisher organizations plus Spain's AMI asked the European Commission to block the terms under the Digital Markets Act. The European Commission welcomed the delay while continuing its review, and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority said it is in 'urgent discussions with Meta this week.' Publisher reaction was skeptical: UK News Media Association chief Theo Bamber called the delay 'a pause, not a solution,' and European Publishers Council executive director Angela Mills Wade said 'little has changed in substance,' reiterating that further uses of publisher content need 'separate, express authorisation.'