The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, over its proposed changes to terms of service that would allow the company to use British publishers’ content to train artificial intelligence (AI) models. The regulator is examining whether Meta is abusing a dominant market position by imposing unfair terms on publishers, potentially enabling the tech giant to “scrape” content without compensation.
The CMA’s inquiry follows reports expressing concern that Meta’s plan could allow it to exploit news content produced by publishers, including material posted both on Meta’s platforms and on external websites, to support the development of AI products. Critics argue that this practice would amount to using valuable content “stolen” from publishers who invest significant resources in newsgathering, benefiting Meta without financial remuneration.
Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive, emphasized that companies holding dominant positions must not leverage their status to enforce exploitative conditions. She noted that the regulator had received complaints from news organizations and other businesses and was acting swiftly to determine whether Meta’s adjustments breach competition law.
The move drew support from political figures and industry representatives. Conservative peer Baroness Stowell expressed approval of the CMA’s intervention, stating that Meta should not be permitted to exploit its market power in a way that threatens the viability of news publishers. Similarly, Theo Bamber of the News Media Association highlighted the difficult position faced by publishers, forced to either provide content free of charge to power AI or risk losing access to millions of users on Meta’s platforms. He praised the CMA for stepping in to protect British media companies and the public’s access to quality news.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the House of Commons media and culture committee, also backed the investigation, underscoring the importance of the issue for news providers and calling on Meta to engage meaningfully with publishers and consider their concerns.
Meta previously delayed the introduction of the revised terms twice due to pushback from European and American publishers. The company’s plans appear to allow the unrestricted collection of content used for training AI systems, a practice critics have criticized as undermining protections for copyrighted news material.
A spokesperson for Meta maintained that there are no grounds for the CMA’s probe and said the company welcomes the opportunity to clarify its approach. The investigation will assess whether Meta holds a dominant competitive position in the UK market and, if confirmed, whether its proposed changes violate competition regulations.