Norwegian media groups seek court order to block Meta's new user terms
Ten Norwegian media organisations have asked the Oslo District Court to suspend Meta's new commercial terms, saying they could let Meta collect their journalism for AI. Meta has delayed the terms to 20 November and revised the wording.
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The story, neutrally told
Centre · 1Major Norwegian media companies have taken Meta to court over its proposed new commercial terms, over concerns that news content could be used to train artificial intelligence models, according to broadcaster NRK. Anadolu AgencyN “Major Norwegian media companies have taken Meta to court over its proposed new commercial terms, raising concerns about the potential use of news content to train artificial intelligence models” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Centre · 2The 10 plaintiffs include NRK, TV 2, Schibsted, Amedia, Polaris, Aller, DN, Mentor Medier, NTB and Hordaland Folkeblad, and they have asked the Oslo District Court to suspend the terms pending a judicial review of their legality. Anadolu AgencyN “have asked the Oslo District Court to suspend Meta’s new terms pending a judicial review of their legality” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Hindustan TimesN “According to the 10 media groups, the new terms due to come into force on November 20” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ Centre · 1The filing is a request for a provisional injunction against the terms taking effect, pending a ruling on the substance of the case. Hindustan TimesN “They said they had filed a request with the Oslo district court for a provisional injunction against the entry into force of the terms of use, pending a ruling on the substance of the case.” Read at Hindustan Times ↗
Centre · 2The groups say the terms would give Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, the right to collect their articles, photos and videos and use them to develop AI products among other things. Hindustan TimesN “would give Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, the right to collect their articles, photos and videos, including those behind a paywall, and use them to develop artificial intelligence products” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ Anadolu AgencyN “the new terms would grant Meta the right to scrape every article, photo and video published by editorially controlled media outlets” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Centre · 1According to the plaintiffs, the terms would apply to all professional account holders, including companies and retailers, who could only oppose them by deleting their accounts. Hindustan TimesN “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” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ Centre · 2Lene Eltvik Vindfeld, head of the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association (MBL), said the matter should be legally assessed to see whether it is in line with Norwegian law, and said Meta uses media groups' investments to develop AI services that compete with them directly, which she called unacceptable and distorting competition. Anadolu AgencyN ““We believe that this should be legally assessed to see if this is actually in line with Norwegian law,” said Lene Eltvik Vindfeld” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Hindustan TimesN “Meta uses media groups' investments to develop artificial intelligence services that compete with them directly. This is both unacceptable and distorts competition,” Read at Hindustan Times ↗
Centre · 1NRK legal director Olav Nyhus said the broadcaster does not want Meta to use its content to strengthen Facebook and Instagram, and that Meta's conduct and terms are a clear violation of competition law, adding that terminating agreements with the platforms would not be easy because they are important channels for disseminating information. Anadolu AgencyN ““We believe that Meta’s conduct and terms are a clear violation of competition law.””“it would not be easy to terminate agreements with Instagram and Facebook” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Centre · 1Meta told AFP it had delayed implementation of the terms until 20 November to allow more time to explain to partners and stakeholders what is changing and what is not. Hindustan TimesN “Meta said it had delayed the implementation of the new user terms until November 20 "to allow more time for us to explain to our partners and stakeholders what's changing and what's not"” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ Centre · 1Anadolu reported that Meta had recently revised the terms to remove the language about training; the revised wording says automated crawling is meant to develop, improve, research and maintain advertising and business products, but still lets Meta use scrapers, bots and crawlers to collect content from websites linked to businesses on its platforms. Anadolu AgencyN “The revised terms specify that automated website crawling is intended to develop, improve, research and maintain advertising and business products.”“The provisions still allow Meta to use automated tools, including web scrapers, bots and crawlers” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗
Centre · 1On 14 October, MBL and NRK had also threatened to sue Meta, accusing it of profiting from fraudulent advertisements impersonating them. Hindustan TimesN “On October 14, MBL and NRK had also threatened to sue Meta, accusing the American giant of profiting from fraudulent advertisements impersonating them” Read at Hindustan Times ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left0 outlets
No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Centre2 outlets
- Framing
- Both outlets present the case as a publishers' challenge to Meta over news content and AI, with Meta's position included.
- Emphasis
- Anadolu stresses the revised crawling wording and NRK's competition-law claim; Hindustan Times, running AFP, stresses the 20 November date and the injunction request.
- Charged language
- “destroying the entire financial basis for journalism”
- For example
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“What Meta is doing is destroying the entire financial basis for journalism” — Anadolu Agency
“Norway’s major media organisations are seeking an injunction against Meta’s revised user terms.” — Hindustan Times
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Norwegian media organisations including NRK, Schibsted, Amedia, Polaris, Aller and NTB have taken legal action against Meta in the Oslo court.
- They want Meta's new terms suspended pending a judicial review.
- The concern is Meta's right to collect journalistic content and its possible use for AI.
Where accounts differ
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Whether the terms still allow AI use of news content
- Centre
- Anadolu reports Meta removed the 'train' wording and says crawling is for advertising and business products, though crawling is still allowed; AFP relays the plaintiffs' claim that the terms let Meta use content to develop AI products.
Meta organisation
Meta says it delayed the terms to 20 November to explain to partners what is changing, and has revised the crawling wording to cover advertising and business products.
“to allow more time for us to explain to our partners and stakeholders what's changing and what's not” — Hindustan Times
“Meta subsequently removed the reference and clarified that the crawling provisions apply to advertising and business products.” — Anadolu Agency
Left0 articles
No coverage yet.
Centre2 articles
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Norwegian media companies take Meta to court over new commercial terms
Neutral Reports the lawsuit via NRK, giving publishers' quotes and Meta's revised wording.
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Hindustan TimesN · · via AFP
Norway media take legal action to block Meta from using content
Neutral AFP report centred on the injunction request, plaintiffs' claims and Meta's delay of the terms.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 27 Oct 08:42 First Anadolu AgencyN Norwegian media companies take Meta to court over new commercial terms
- 27 Oct 13:51 +5h 9m Hindustan TimesN Norway media take legal action to block Meta from using content via AFP
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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