CMA investigates Meta over terms for publishers and advertisers

Summarised from 3 outlets · 4 reports · Updated 30 Oct, 12:23 · Archive

The UK competition watchdog is investigating whether Meta imposes exploitative terms on publishers and advertisers that breach competition rules.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority is investigating whether Meta imposes exploitative commercial terms on publishers and advertisers that breach competition rules. The CMA said Meta's terms could allow it to access and use content from news publishers' websites to develop its own products and services, including AI features, without these businesses having a choice on how or if their content is used.

Meta had planned to revise the terms but has since put them on hold. The CMA boss Sarah Cardell said the regulator sought to probe the terms swiftly after hearing concerns from news publishers and other businesses. She said that where a company holds a dominant position, it must not use that position to impose unfair terms.

The investigation will assess whether Meta holds a dominant position in a relevant UK market and whether the rules breach the 1998 Competition Act. A Meta spokesman said the company believes there are no grounds for investigation and that it has already committed not to change its terms without consulting publishers and other stakeholders.

How it is being reported

• Facebook owner Meta delays controversial 'mafia term tax' after furious news publishers accused Zuckerberg's empire of trying to 'snatch' contentThe dispute raises the possibility that major news outlets could feel forced to pull their presence from Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp.Daily Mail · 30 Oct, 14:37
• Facebook owner Meta under investigation by UK competition watchdog over plans to 'steal' publishers' content to train its AI models by imposing 'exploitative terms' on publishersAmid a growing clamour for action, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will probe whether Meta is imposing 'exploitative terms'.Daily Mail · 30 Oct, 13:22
• Competition watchdog to investigate Meta terms for publishers and businessesThe Facebook and Instagram owner said it believes there are ‘no grounds for a competition investigation’.Independent Tech · 30 Oct, 11:57
• Competition watchdog to investigate Meta terms for publishers and businessesThe Facebook and Instagram owner said it believes there are ‘no grounds for a competition investigation’.Evening Standard · 30 Oct, 11:57

In this story: Meta · Competition and Markets Authority · Sarah Cardell · UK

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log