Facebook parent Meta Platforms said it would indefinitely delay the rollout of new commercial terms, originally set for 30 October, after publishers and digital advertisers had called for urgent regulatory action to prevent the terms from coming into effect.

Publishers and digital advertisers had claimed the terms would give Meta the unlimited right to extract their online content for use in training its AI services.

Meta verbally denied that this was the case, but the groups said the company had offered no written assurances.

In a Wednesday statement, Meta said it would consult with industry groups on the new terms, with the consultation expected to last beyond 20 November.

The Movement for an Open Web, whose members include advertisers and publishers, said on 22 October that it had complained to the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority and requested interim measures blocking the terms.

The European Publishers Council, Germany’s Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers Association (BDZV) and the Association of the Free Press had all issued similar complaints to regulators in recent days.

“This is unscrupulous theft,” said the BDZV in its statement.

Publishers have made similar complaints against Google, which they said offered no way of opting out of their content being used in its AI-mode results.