A giant hand reaching out of a looming corporate tower scoops newspapers and web pages from a row of small shopfronts into its own basket, as the shopkeepers watch.

An investigator in a plain office with bare, undecorated walls places a thick contract on one side of a balance scale and a single small newspaper on the other, studying it through a magnifying glass.

A revised contract lies unsigned under a paperweight with the pen set down beside it, while a spokesperson at a lectern spreads their hands dismissively.

A group of publishers and advertisers hand a thick bundle of papers across a desk to two officials.

Illustration, AI-generated from the story text. Tap a panel to read the story through it.

Afternoon Brief · October 30th 2026

Britain's competition regulator investigates Meta's terms for using publisher content in AI

The Competition and Markets Authority opened a case on Friday into whether Meta imposed "exploitative terms" on publishers and advertisers that let it collect content from their websites for its own products, including AI features, without giving businesses "a choice on if or how their content is used." The CMA says the terms could be an "unlawful imposition of unfair trading conditions," and will first test whether Meta is dominant in a relevant UK market. Meta had planned to revise the terms on November 20 and has put that on hold. A Meta spokesperson said there were "no grounds" for an investigation and that it has committed to consult publishers first. Publishers and advertisers asked the CMA and the European Commission for interim measures last week. SourcesB B

Sources

This story ran in the Afternoon Brief of October 30th 2026.

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