Canadian news publishers worried about Meta’s new terms of service

OTTAWA — Canadian news companies say they’re worried about changes to Meta’s terms of service and want the company to clarify how they will be affected.

Meta’s changes to its terms of service, first reported by Neiman Lab, led some to suggest the terms could allow scraping of websites associated with a business account for AI training purposes.

Meta has now revised those terms and the company says they don’t change how it uses web crawlers, but the anxiety has not abated and European and British publishers are asking governments and regulators to step in.

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters says its members have raised concerns and that, at a minimum, Meta should be transparent about how the new terms will affect Canadian outlets.