The Competition and Markets Authority has opened an investigation into Meta over proposed commercial terms that could allow the technology company to collect material from publishers’ and other businesses’ websites for use in its own services, including artificial intelligence products.
The regulator is examining whether Meta holds a dominant position in a relevant UK market and, if so, whether the conditions it seeks to impose amount to an abuse of that position under the Competition Act 1998.
The disputed provisions concern businesses using Meta’s advertising and commercial services. Publishers and digital advertisers argue that participation in those services could require them to accept broad contractual rights allowing Meta to collect and reuse material from their websites.
Those businesses rely on platforms including Facebook and Instagram to reach customers, attract audiences, and distribute commercial content. Industry groups contend that the proposed terms would exploit that dependence by restricting companies’ ability to control the use of their original material.
Meta had intended to introduce the revised conditions on 30 October, before postponing implementation to 20 November following objections and engagement with regulators. On 28 October, the company placed the changes on hold pending consultation with publishing and advertising organisations.
The CMA subsequently opened its formal investigation on 30 October, following concerns raised by the News Media Association and Movement for an Open Web.
The investigation will examine the commercial relationship between Meta and businesses using its services, including whether the proposed contractual conditions are unfair in circumstances where those businesses depend on the platform for audience access.
Meta disputes the allegations. The company has maintained that the revised terms concern its advertising and business products, do not give it new rights overriding existing website preferences, and do not change its web-crawling practices.
It has also said that publishers can use robots.txt instructions to communicate preferences to automated web crawlers. Industry representatives question whether those mechanisms adequately address the contractual rights they believe Meta is seeking.
The investigation is being conducted under established competition law rather than the UK’s newer digital markets regime. Meta has not been designated as having strategic market status under that framework, meaning the CMA cannot currently apply the regime’s designated-company interventions to the business.
Under the Competition Act, the regulator must assess the relevant market and Meta’s position within it before determining whether the proposed conditions constitute an abuse. The opening of an investigation does not establish that either test has been met.
The dispute comes as publishers and other content businesses examine how material produced for conventional websites may be collected and reused in AI-enabled products. Original news, specialist research, commercial information, and other proprietary content can contribute to digital services developed by organisations outside the businesses that produced it.
Meta’s proposed terms have brought those questions into the contractual relationship between platform operators and their commercial customers, where access to audiences may be closely connected to acceptance of standard service conditions.
Separately, the CMA is seeking information about Meta One, a subscription service raising concerns among small businesses about charges associated with posting external links on Facebook and Instagram. That matter is outside the scope of the new Competition Act investigation.
The authority will now gather evidence from Meta and affected third parties. The proposed terms remain paused while the company consults industry representatives and the regulator examines whether the contractual arrangements comply with competition law.
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