Major Norwegian media outlets have taken legal action to prevent Meta from implementing new terms of use for its products. They believe these terms could allow the American company to exploit their content to train its artificial intelligence models.
Terms that would apply to all content
According to these media outlets, the terms set to take effect on 20 November would give Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, the right to collect their articles, photos, and videos, including those behind a paywall. This right would notably allow the company to use them to develop its artificial intelligence models.
“The fear is that companies will use this power to secure rights to journalistic content,” explained Lene Eltvik Vindfeld, president of the Norwegian Media Businesses Association (MBL), in a statement. She added: “The result: Meta uses media groups’ investments to develop artificial intelligence services that directly compete with them. This is both unacceptable and distorts competition.”
According to the complainants, these terms would apply to all owners of professional accounts, including media outlets, businesses, and shops. They would leave no option to object other than deleting their accounts.
A request for an injunction filed with the Oslo court
The complainants have filed a request for a provisional injunction with the Oslo court, a measure that would suspend the entry into force of these terms pending a judgment on the merits. Signatories include the public broadcaster NRK, the media groups Schibsted, Amedia, Polaris, and Aller, as well as the Norwegian news agency NTB.
Contacted by AFP, Meta stated it had postponed the implementation of the new terms to 20 November to “give more time to explain to (its) partners and stakeholders what is changing and what is not.”
This case is part of a longer-standing dispute. On 14 October, the MBL and NRK had already threatened to sue Meta. They accused the American giant of profiting from fraudulent advertisements impersonating them to scam internet users.
