Meta has removed the word "train" from its commercial terms of service, a change made in an effort to quell criticism following a public backlash. The updated terms, which take effect on October 30, were described by the company as "streamlined." The revision comes after legal experts warned that Meta's previous sweeping terms appeared to grant the tech giant permission to endlessly scrape websites linked on business pages. In conversations with Nieman Lab, experts suggested that Meta could use the policy to avoid millions in licensing fees from news organizations by requiring business users to share AI training data as a condition of running a page. A Meta spokesperson confirmed that the company did not alert users to the changed language after the backlash emerged. This lack of notification adds to confusion ahead of the policy roll-out. In a statement provided to Ars, a Meta spokesperson acknowledged Nieman Lab's initial report but did not address its follow-up, which reiterated the experts' concerns.
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