THE ESSENTIALS IN 30 SECONDS

  • On November 3, the 44th Civil Court of São Paulo granted ANJ, Abert and Aner a preliminary injunction suspending parts of Meta's new commercial terms, due to take effect on November 20.
  • Meta may not collect or use member outlets' content without authorisation, including to train AI, and may not penalise outlets that refuse the terms.
  • Non-compliance carries a fine of R$1 million per day, capped at R$100 million; a Norwegian court suspended the same terms on October 28.

A judge in São Paulo has temporarily blocked Meta from gathering and reusing the content of Brazilian news outlets without their consent, including for the development and training of artificial intelligence systems. Judge Guilherme Madeira Dezem of the 44th Civil Court of São Paulo granted the preliminary injunction on Tuesday, November 3, in a case brought by three industry groups: the newspaper association ANJ, the broadcasters' association Abert and the magazine publishers' association Aner.

What the injunction covers

The order suspends part of the new commercial terms that Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, planned to apply from November 20. According to ANJ, those terms would have allowed automated programs to access, copy, store and analyse articles, photos and videos published on members' own websites, not only material posted on Meta's platforms, and would have made accepting these conditions a requirement for continuing to use its services.

Under the injunction, Meta must keep the accounts, pages and tools of member outlets fully working and may not block, restrict or otherwise penalise those that reject the new terms. Each day of non-compliance carries a fine of R$1 million, up to a maximum of R$100 million. The Rio Times notes that the order applies to members of the three associations, including regional outlets, rather than to all Brazilian media. It stays in force until the court rules on the merits; no date for that ruling has been published.

ANJ says the judge pointed to signs of copyright infringement and contractual abuse, and stressed that rights holders must authorise the reproduction and commercial use of protected works. The associations called the decision an initial victory for intellectual property and said it was the first known ruling of its kind obtained by a coalition of media groups.

A second legal setback in a week

The Brazilian decision follows a similar move in Norway. On October 28, an Oslo court temporarily barred Meta from introducing the same terms after a suit by ten media groups, including the public broadcaster NRK and Schibsted. In that case, Meta said it wanted full consultation with the industry and that implementation could be delayed beyond November 20.

As of Wednesday morning, Meta had not published a response to the Brazilian ruling, and it was not known whether the company would appeal. The Rio Times also points out that the court file itself could not be consulted, so the details of the order come from the associations and from published accounts of it.