UK regulator opens investigation into Meta’s terms — Channel NewsAsia

In the United Kingdom, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened an investigation into Meta’s terms for publishers and advertisers. The regulator is examining whether the company imposed exploitative terms for the use of content while developing its own services, including artificial intelligence features.

Terms for publishers and advertisers

According to Channel NewsAsia, the CMA believes that Meta’s commercial terms, the parent company of Facebook, may have allowed it to collect materials from publishers’ websites and use them to create and provide its own products and services.

In the regulator’s view, businesses may not have been able to choose whether and how their content would be used. The CMA said such terms could potentially constitute the unlawful imposition of unfair trading conditions.

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What the CMA will examine

The regulator must determine whether Meta holds a dominant position in the relevant market in the United Kingdom. If this is confirmed, the CMA will also assess whether these commercial terms constitute an abuse of that position.

According to the CMA, Meta had planned to revise the terms on November 20 but later paused the process. The company did not provide an immediate comment in response to journalists’ request.