Meta suspends new commercial terms after criticism from the global press and legal setback in Brazil

Pelotas (RS) Meta reported this Friday (6) that it has suspended the planned updates to the company's commercial terms, which would come into force on November 20th. The implementation of the new rules was initially scheduled for October 30, but had already been postponed once after criticism from media entities around the world.

The organizations claim that the new conditions would allow Meta to use automated programs to access, copy, store and analyze reports, photographs, videos and other content published on media outlets' websites.

"We are putting the changes on hold while we continue to engage with stakeholders and take the time necessary to get this right. In the meantime, our current terms remain in effect," a company spokesperson said.

Last Tuesday (3), big tech suffered a legal setback in Brazil due to the new trade policy. The São Paulo Court banned the owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads from using robots to collect reports, photos, videos and other content from press outlets affiliated with three industry associations.

The joint action of ANJ (National Association of Newspapers), Abert (Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters) and Aner (National Association of Magazine Editors) aimed to suspend the rules that would come into force on the 20th.

The Brazilian court's decision also prevented the company from using the material to develop or train its artificial intelligence systems, such as Meta AI. The fine for non-compliance is R$1 million per day, limited to R$100 million.

Contacted by Folha when the court's decision was released, the company said it would not comment on the matter.

In the decision, judge Guilherme Madeira Dezem, from the 44th Civil Court of the Central Court of the Capital, suspended the section of the new policy that establishes that companies using the company's platforms would have to authorize, without remuneration, the use of "web scrapers" (programs that copy the content of pages).

Also on the list are robots and crawlers that can access, store, analyze and collect the content of all domains and URLs linked to these companies' products. Under the proposed terms, the simple continued use of the networks would be equivalent to acceptance of the new rules.

The judge classified the requirement as contractual abuse, as it is in an adhesion contract, one in which one of the parties imposes the clauses without negotiation.

"Imposing on media outlets the free and universal delivery of their copyright assets as a toll for remaining connected to the channels on which the contemporary public consumes news constitutes a manifest abuse of rights and unjust enrichment", says an excerpt from the decision.

Before the first postponement of the new rules, the Movement for an Open Web group, whose members include digital advertisers and newspaper companies, also said it had lodged a complaint with the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority and requested precautionary measures.

With information Reuters