Norwegian publishers seek court order against Meta’s AI-scraping terms

A group of 10 Norwegian news organisations has asked the Oslo District Court to suspend Meta’s new commercial terms for Facebook and Instagram business accounts until their legality is decided. The publishers say the terms would allow Meta to scrape articles, photographs and videos from their websites, including paywalled material, for potential use in AI products. The request was filed by the Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association, MBL, on behalf of NRK, TV 2, Schibsted, Amedia, Polaris, Aller, Dagens Næringsliv, Mentor Medier, NTB and Hordaland Folkeblad. MBL said Norway was, to its knowledge, the first country to bring Meta’s proposed terms before a court. The dispute concerns permissions attached to professional accounts. Publishers contend that Meta could collect content from associated websites, rather than only material posted directly to Facebook or Instagram. They say the only way to refuse would be to delete an account, cutting publishers off from audiences on platforms that have become important distribution channels. MBL wants Meta to incorporate machine-readable copyright restrictions, such as robots.txt, into its contractual terms. It also seeks separate voluntary agreements, including negotiations over payment, before journalism can be used for AI training or standalone AI products. Publishers that decline scraping should not face reduced reach, traffic or exclusion, it said. Meta initially announced the changes on Oct. 8, with an effective date of Oct. 30. It later postponed implementation until Nov. 20, saying it needed more time to explain the changes to partners and stakeholders. Meta has told NRK that site owners can use robots.txt to express preferences and block crawler access, though publishers note that this protection is not written into the terms. After the initial backlash, Meta removed an explicit reference to AI training from the text on Oct. 16 and described future use as supporting advertising and business products. Publishers and legal experts have argued that wording allowing Meta to develop, improve, research and maintain products could still encompass generative-AI services. Meta denied the Norwegian publishers’ allegations. The case comes amid wider resistance in Europe. Publisher groups in Denmark and Sweden have challenged or reported the terms to competition authorities, while European press groups have asked the European Commission to examine potential Digital Markets Act breaches. The UK Competition and Markets Authority said it would continue scrutinising the terms. One Norwegian outlet, Fjell-Ljom, plans to leave Meta in response to the terms. The Røros newspaper plans to permanently delete its official Facebook page and cut all ties with Meta from Jan. 1, citing concerns over editorial control, copyright and source protection.