Columnist Peter Nowak argues Meta appears to be using its dominance in social media to gain advantages in other areas, especially AI. Under Meta's original terms reported by Nieman Lab, it could scrape content from websites tied to business accounts on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp with no opt-out, potentially to train AI systems. After backlash, Meta delayed the effective date to Nov. 20, removed the word “train” and limited the purpose to advertising and business products, though legal experts say the new wording does not rule out AI training. The author warns this threatens news publishers, particularly in Canada, and says it could raise Competition Act issues through tied selling and abuse of dominance. He argues publishers should decide whether to license their journalism to AI companies, and that compensation should be part of that conversation.
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Related tickers and likely impact
META
• NeutralMeta Platforms
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $1.7T |
| Close on 10/27/2026 | 620.19 |
| Change that session | -1.64% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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