Schiff urges Meta to drop proposed terms granting broad content-scraping rights

Sen. Adam Schiff is urging Meta to abandon proposed commercial terms that publishers fear would give the company broad rights to collect content from their websites, Nieman Lab reports. The California Democrat’s intervention adds a U.S. political challenge to the growing dispute over the terms.

Schiff called for explicit contractual guarantees respecting paywalls and publishers’ technical instructions restricting automated access. He argued that verbal assurances about honoring those boundaries do not provide reliable legal protection.

The terms are scheduled to take effect Nov. 20 following a delay. Schiff’s objection centers on publishers’ control of their intellectual property and their dependence on Meta’s platforms to reach audiences.

Read more at Nieman Lab →