A court in São Paulo issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday, November 3, barring Meta from collecting or using, without authorization, material published by news organizations affiliated with three Brazilian industry associations. The restriction also covers using that material to develop or train artificial intelligence systems.
The ruling followed a case brought by the National Newspaper Association (ANJ), the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (ABERT) and the National Association of Magazine Publishers (ANER) over Meta’s proposed commercial terms. Judge Guilherme Madeira Dezem suspended part of the terms, which were scheduled to take effect on November 20.
The proposed rules would have allowed Meta’s automated programs to access, copy, store and analyze reporting, photographs, videos and other material posted on the outlets’ websites. The injunction also requires Meta to keep the associated outlets’ accounts, pages and tools operating without blocks or restrictions because they refuse the new terms.
The court cited indications of possible copyright violations and contractual abuse, reasoning that reproducing and commercially exploiting protected content requires authorization from its rights holders. A breach of the injunction carries a daily fine of R$1 million, capped at R$100 million.
Meta told CNN Brasil it would not comment on the ruling. On October 28, company spokesperson Andy Stone said Meta valued its publishing partners and did not intend to change its policies without broad consultation with industry groups and leaders. He said that if consultations continued beyond November 20, the company would delay implementing the updated terms, leaving the existing terms in effect in the meantime.
Sources: CNN Brasil.