Norway Court Temporarily Bans New Meta User Terms

A Norwegian court on Wednesday temporarily banned Meta from enforcing new user terms which Norwegian media outlets argued would threaten their rights to their content.

Ten media groups went to court to argue that the new terms, due to come into force on November 20, would give Meta — which owns Facebook and Instagram — the right to collect their articles, photos and videos, including those behind a paywall. They said the content could be used to develop artificial intelligence products, among other things.

According to the plaintiffs, Meta’s new terms of use would apply to all professional account holders — media outlets as well as companies and retailers — and would leave them no option to oppose them other than to delete their accounts.

The Oslo court prohibited the US tech giant from making the contested change until there has been a definitive ruling on its legality.

“Media groups risk losing control of editorial content built up over many years,” the judge noted.

The decision was issued on an emergency basis, without hearing Meta.

Meta later said that it wanted “full consultation” on its action.

“We care deeply about our partners and do not plan to make policy changes without a full consultation with industry groups and leaders,” a Meta spokesperson told AFP in an email.

“We’re committed to getting this right, and as we expect this consultation could extend beyond November 20, in which case we’d delay implementation of the updated terms,” the spokesperson, without directly addressing the allegations over rights.

The plaintiffs include public broadcaster NRK, media groups Schibsted, Amedia, Polaris and Aller, as well as Norwegian news agency NTB.

On October 14, MBL and NRK had threatened to sue Meta, accusing the American giant of profiting from fraudulent advertisements impersonating them in order to defraud internet users.