A court in São Paulo has issued a preliminary injunction preventing Meta from collecting and using news content without permission from the publishers. The ruling, issued on Tuesday, November 3, follows a lawsuit brought by Brazil’s National Newspaper Association (ANJ), the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (ABERT), and the National Association of Magazine Editors (ANER).
The order suspends part of Meta’s new commercial terms, which were due to take effect on November 20. The disputed provisions tied news organizations’ access to their accounts and platform features to permission for Meta to collect data from their portals and other external websites.
The ruling bars Meta from using automated tools, including web scrapers and crawlers, to access, copy, store, analyze, index, or collect content from domains belonging to companies represented by the three associations. The restriction covers material such as articles, photographs, and videos, including content published outside Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads. It also prohibits using that material to develop, research, maintain, train, or adjust AI systems, including Meta AI.
The court also ordered Meta to keep the associations’ member organizations’ accounts, pages, groups, profiles, and business tools operating. The company may not block, restrict, or retaliate against organizations that reject the new commercial terms.
The injunction was issued by Guilherme Madeira Dezem, a judge at São Paulo’s 44th Civil Court, and will remain in force until the case receives a final ruling. Meta could face a daily fine of 1 million reais for violating the order, capped at 100 million reais. The court cited indications of possible copyright violations and contractual abuse, and said that permission from rights holders is required to reproduce and commercially exploit protected works.
The associations described the decision as the first known ruling worldwide granted to a coalition of media organizations challenging this type of change to Meta’s contractual terms. They also noted that a Norwegian court temporarily suspended the company’s new rules on October 28, following a lawsuit by 10 media groups.
ANER executive director Regina Bucco called the ruling an important result for Brazil’s publishing sector and professional journalism. She said the associations support technological innovation, provided it respects copyright, freedom of choice, and the economic sustainability of content producers.
ANJ chief executive Marcelo Rech said the decision signals that there are limits to the economic power of large digital platforms. He described it as an initial step toward preventing platforms and AI models from appropriating third-party content without permission.
Sources: Olhar Digital.