What Meta's new terms and conditions mean for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp users
The updated terms mostly relate to what you’re agreeing to regarding the use of your data.
Photo: Unsplash/dole777
Lester Kiewit speaks to Nazareen Ebrahim, CEO of Naz Consulting International.
Listen below.
Meta is updating its Terms of Service and Community Standards, with a new in-stream pop-up alerting users to the update.
Meta’s Community Standards have merged, and the new Terms of Service go into effect from 1 January 2025.
The updated terms mostly relate to wording changes, with stronger language around platform misuse, and more direct explanations of how you can use certain elements, and what you’re agreeing to regarding personal data use.
Meta has updated its opening paragraph to explain that you agree to the terms if you use its apps.
“These Terms therefore constitute an agreement between you and Meta Platforms, Inc. If you do not agree to these Terms, then do not access or use Facebook or the other products and services covered by these Terms.”
The wording here includes a sentence currently buried further down in the terms, making it clear that by using its apps, you are indeed agreeing to these terms.
The update also includes more specific explanations about the misuse of Meta’s apps and the scraping of data from them.
“You may not access or collect data from our Products using automated means (without our prior permission) or attempt to access data you do not have permission to access, regardless of whether such automated access or collection is undertaken while logged in to a Facebook account.”
That last sentence has been added, clarifying that you can’t use the fact that you were logged into Facebook as an excuse for data scraping. This distinction, between logged-in and logged-out access, has been used in the legal defense of some scraping cases.
There’s also a new explanation about circumventing Meta’s protection measures, and how that’s also a no-no.
Meta included specific qualifiers on avatar and AI use, based on its separate agreements for each.
In its Community Standards, Meta is not updating the document, but it is merging its Community Standards that cover Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and Threads into one central location for easier access.
Ebrahim says Meta considers users of their platforms as 'the products'.
"At this point, users know, firstly, they've given away their privacy and the right to be able to claim absolute autonomy over anything once they've produced content or created a profile to participate on these platforms."
- Nazareen Ebrahim, CEO - Naz Consulting International
Ebrahim explains why some users might have an issue with the updated terms and conditions.
"These terms have been around... but what's not going down well with many users is that we still own the content we post but these platforms have the right to use them across the board as they wish, royalty free, meaning they don't need to pay us."
- Nazareen Ebrahim, CEO - Naz Consulting International
"The second is, they're using it [user content] for their training platform, whether it's Meta's AI training block, which is causing people to ask questions or moving to other platforms..."
- Nazareen Ebrahim, CEO - Naz Consulting International
In the European Union, Meta users might feel a sense of comfort because there are regulations around data protection and privacy. In other parts of the world like Africa, regulations are non-existent.
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