Meta loses court battle against data scraping company
The legal parameters surrounding online data scraping are once again set to be tested as Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has lost a court battle against data scraping company Bright Data. Meta had sued Bright Data for taking user data from its social apps without permission. However, Bright Data argued that it had only accessed publicly available information and had not breached any terms of agreement. The judge ruled in favor of Bright Data, allowing it to continue scraping user data from Facebook and Instagram.
Data scraping has been a contentious legal issue, particularly in relation to the varying protections for data available to logged-in users versus publicly accessible data. Platforms like LinkedIn have also faced similar legal battles, with hiQ Labs arguing for the right to scrape publicly accessible user data without explicit permission. The lack of clarity in current laws poses challenges for platforms in policing data scraping and prosecuting misuse.
As a result, platforms may increase restrictions on non-logged-in access to protect their data, limiting discovery and referral traffic. However, this also makes it more difficult to attract new users who cannot experience the app’s content before signing up. Many social apps are already taking steps to limit non-logged-in access and further protect their information. Additionally, generative AI scraping poses a significant impetus for platforms to implement stricter measures. Legal clarification is needed to define data scraping and determine what qualifies as misuse in the context of social media.
Meta is pursuing other data scraping cases and had hoped to establish a precedent with this ruling. However, it will now have to appeal the decision, similar to LinkedIn’s five-year legal battle. Hopefully, a clearer legal consensus can be reached in a shorter timeframe.