Objection, your honor

You can now object to Meta using your content for AI training if you live in the UK or EU. Nieman Lab…

By Vane October 28, 2026 3 min read
Objection, your honor

You can now object to Meta using your content for AI training if you live in the UK or EU.

Nieman Lab reported earlier this month that Meta updated its commercial terms for business accounts. The new rules allow the company to use content from connected websites to develop and maintain its products. Artists and small business owners using Instagram have raised alarms over this permission.

However, users in the United Kingdom and European Union can stop the process. Several people in that region have confirmed they received approval after submitting objections.

How to object to Meta’s AI training in the UK and EU

Meta buried the change in its Commercial Terms. The update was originally set to take effect on October 30. Backlash forced Meta to move the start date to November 20.

The company also removed the word “train” from the list of allowed uses. It now limits data usage to advertising and business products, rather than all Meta products. Terms still allow Meta broad leeway to scrape user data for development.

To object on mobile, tap the three lines on your account. Go to the privacy center and select “object.” This opens a form asking why you do not want your data used. Users received an email confirming their objection was approved.

News from around the web

The New York Times has an antisocial aversion to linking: The Times covered an investigation into chemical plant polluters under the Trump administration. Hunterbrook, a news outlet fused with a hedge fund, published a similar story in February. The Times article used similar photos, sources, and ground without acknowledgment or a link. After the cofounder of Hunterbrook complained on X, the Times added an acknowledgment at the bottom of the story but refused to include a link. A spokesperson statement explained why they do not think linking is necessary. This behaviour is deranged. The Times was already working on the story with its massive newsroom, yet it got beaten. Journalism awards need to stop looking the other way when big outlets do this.

Artificial reef: The SS United, a gigantic military ship, is being sunk to become an artificial reef. Scuba divers seem excited. I did not know this was a thing.

Ransomware scam mitigation scammer: A company that promised to help ransomware victims for a fee was indicted by the feds. ProPublica and a Department of Justice affidavit cover the details. An original investigation by ProPublica in 2019 is still worth reading. There are many companies that prey on victims of cyberattacks and sextortion campaigns.

Today in c’mon, man: CIA whistleblower John Kirakou is doing sponcon for Kalshi. He wrote, “I spent 15 years at the CIA trying to figure out what was going to happen next in the world. Now Kalshi is finding new ways to put a price on those predictions. This partnership between Kalshi and S&P Dow Jones Indices is fascinating.”

Today in printers: Ole Bielfeldt won the 2026 Nikon Small World photomicrography contest. His work shows an inkjet printing process. His Instagram account is worth checking out.

Today in yikes: A Roblox scraper grabbed more than 100 GB of data from a 3D modeling community. This included over 60 GB of adult content from a section called “SmutBase.” Open3DLabs wrote in a blog post that they do not think Roblox set out to collect adult content. They have no evidence any data reached a model or product. The scrapes were likely automated. The crawler pointed at an adult site without telling the difference between adult models and anything else. Roblox is being sued by several US states over child safety. “Our AI team bulk-downloaded an adult site without looking” is not a good position to be in.

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