Facebook owner Meta accused of 'digital piracy' over plans to 'steal' British publishers' content to improve its AI models, as calls grow for UK competition watchdog to intervene

Facebook owner Meta has been accused of 'digital piracy' over plans to 'steal' British publishers' content to improve its AI models.

Amid a growing clamour for the UK competition watchdog to intervene, the Silicon Valley giant was warned its sweeping changes could help kill off 'trusted journalism' and replace it with a 'cesspit' of online misinformation.

It is feared the global tech behemoth's new proposed terms and conditions for using its platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, give it new rights to 'scrape' all content from any UK publisher which uses them.

This would include content published elsewhere on non-Meta platforms, such as a publisher's own website, unless they opted out by flicking a digital 'off' switch.

But opponents fear the opt-out does not provide a watertight safeguard and that Meta's move would be the first step in a slippery slope towards widespread 'theft' of publishers' content.

The only way of avoiding the new rules entirely would be for publishers to remove all accounts they have on Meta platforms, critics say, which could be hugely financially damaging as they direct many readers towards publishers' websites.

It is also argued such a move would deprive users of Facebook and Instagram from reliable news content rigorously fact-checked by major publishers, also leaving Meta to potentially train its AI models from sources that are less reliable.

Meta denies the changes are about scraping news websites to train AI models. It insists they are limited to how adverts are displayed on its platforms and checking they contain accurate information on matters such as fluctuating prices.

But amid a growing backlash, peers debated the issue in the House of Lords on Tuesday, warning UK news organisations face having to choose between 'surrendering their journalism' or leaving Meta's platforms.

They also accused the tech behemoth of 'abusing' its global market dominance.

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) watchdog is probing Meta's proposed changes, which have also sparked concerns among publishers in Europe and the United States and are facing similar challenges there.

Amid growing opposition, Meta has delayed introducing them until November 20.

Danny Groom, CEO and Publisher of the Daily Mail, has led growing calls among UK publishers for the CMA to intervene before this deadline.

He said: 'This is the worst example yet of tech giants' desire to shamelessly exploit news publishers and seize their content with complete disregard for value or fair use.

'It's essential governments wake up to the impact of this new form of digital piracy and the very real threat it poses, not just to global news publishers but to the wider digital ecosystem.

'It is a completely unacceptable move by Meta and must be resisted and challenged at every turn.'

Theo Bamber, boss of News Media Association, which represents most national, regional and local UK publishers, said: 'Meta's disgraceful attempt to force publishers to give up all their journalism for AI scraping is nothing short of a war on the truth.

'If Meta doesn't change course, Facebook risks becoming a cesspit of unchallenged mis and disinformation, plunging our information ecosystem into chaos.

'We need regulators across the globe, including the Competition and Markets Authority here in the UK, to act now to protect consumers from this disastrous outcome.'

Dame Caroline Dinenage, Tory chair of the Commons' digital, culture and media committee, said: 'This risks not only undermining the commercial value of journalism, but could also allow disinformation to flourish if publishers decide to pull their accounts from Meta platforms.'

Former Tory tech minister Damian Collins said: 'Meta's proposals appear to be an abuse of market power.

'It is telling businesses that if they use its social media and advertising services, Meta can scrape their websites and use what it finds, for free. No choice, no fee.

'This would be a hammer blow to the sustainability of news providers and publishers.

'It's like using Dulux to paint your front door, then being told they also get a key to your house and can help themselves to whatever they find inside.'

Crossbench peer Baroness Kidron added: 'This exposes the truth in what the creative industries have been battling against.

'It is an assault against those who imagine, create and build the culture and public conversation of the UK.

'Making theft of all intellectual and creative ideas the condition of using a service is nothing more than a licence to steal.'

During the Lords debate, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Clement-Jones led a cross-party backlash.

He said: 'The terms seem to actually let Meta get around paywalls and technical blocks. And the only way out is for publishers to close the Meta business accounts their advertising depends on.'

Tory peer Baroness Harding of Winscombe said: 'When Meta withdrew news from its platforms in Canada in response to legislation requiring them to pay for it, the gap was filled with disinformation.

'If UK publishers are forced to choose between surrendering their journalism or leaving Meta's platforms, what assessment has the government made of the consequences for our public discourse and our society?'

Labour peer Lord Brennan of Canton added: 'Can I urge the minister to be robust on this matter and for the government to use all the powers at its disposal to stop what essentially is an abuse of market power by Meta and a threat to trusted journalism.'

Baroness Ramsey, responding for the Government said: 'The CMA recognises the urgency of this matter, particularly for businesses that rely on Meta services to reach their customers.

'A delay does not resolve the questions raised by the effect of the new terms. We understand that the CMA is engaging directly with Meta to establish the facts.'

Meta's proposed changes would 'authorise' it 'or any entity acting on our behalf' to 'use automated software' to 'access, index, cache, analyse, collect, retrieve or crawl the domains, web pages or URLs (and any content available through them)' that are linked to users' 'products or services'.

It adds: 'Meta may use any content from such domains, web pages or URLs to provide, develop, improve, research, train and maintain the integrity of, the Meta Company Products, services and features provided under these Commercial Terms and any other applicable supplemental terms.'

Meta has since removed the word 'train'. However, critics argue retention of the word 'develop' could still allow it to use scraped material to improve its AI models.

Such models are capable of pulling together information for web users from a wide range of sources, including news websites, and displaying them in a way which prevents the user from needing to visit publishers' platforms.

A CMA spokesman said: 'The CMA has been in urgent discussions with Meta on this important issue.

'Meta has now paused implementation until 20 November. We will continue to scrutinise these terms and engage with Meta and others as we consider our next steps.'

The watchdog has the ability to effectively force Meta into dropping the changes in the UK via sanctions, including fines.

Meta denies the changes are about AI training or scraping news websites and are aimed at improving how adverts are displayed.

It says users of its platforms can 'signal' their preference to opt-out.

A spokesman added: 'We are extending the effective date of our updated Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms to November 20 to allow more time for us to explain to our partners and stakeholders what's changing and what's not - including how Meta uses web crawlers [automated software that browses the web to index content].'

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