US senator warns Meta's revised commercial terms could hurt businesses and creators

what happened

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee raised concerns on Friday about Meta Platforms' plan to revise its commercial terms, arguing the changes could damage businesses and content creators. Blackburn chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. She said the language gives the Facebook parent broad power to gather material from websites linked to Facebook and Instagram business accounts.

Blackburn said Meta had already dropped an explicit mention of AI training, but that the revision did not go far enough. In her view, the wording still allows wide scraping and lets Meta develop its products with collected material, with no clear limits on use in AI systems. She said small businesses and news outlets that depend on the platforms would be most exposed. "Meta must withdraw the updated terms and negotiate with creators and publishers," she said.

Earlier that day Meta postponed the start date from October 30 to November 20 to address feedback from publishers and advertisers. The company rejected the criticism, saying the terms cover only ads and business products and do not change its web crawler practices. Complaints have also reached EU and UK antitrust authorities, according to Reuters.

why it matters

For markets, the main issue is regulatory risk for Meta. Complaints before EU and UK competition bodies, along with possible limits on using user content for AI, could shape how the company monetizes data and its AI services. The reports include no financial estimates, so the direct effect on earnings remains unclear.

market impact

Meta: regulatory limits on data use for AI could weigh on the shares and the outlook for its ad business.

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