Economy · Business & trade · 3 November 2026
CMA opens investigation into Meta's commercial terms
The Competition and Markets Authority has announced an investigation into whether Meta’s commercial terms breach competition law. The regulator is examining if the company is abusing a dominant position. No final decision has been made yet on whether Meta broke the law.
The Competition and Markets Authority has announced it is investigating Meta’s commercial terms under the Competition Act 1998. The probe focuses on whether the company is abusing a dominant position by imposing unfair conditions on businesses. Meta’s terms allow it to use publisher content for its own products without giving publishers a choice.
Meta originally planned to introduce changes to its commercial terms on 30 October. The company announced a pause to the rollout on 28 October, and had previously planned to revise its terms on 20 November. Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, said: "We've heard concerns from news publishers and other businesses and are acting swiftly to investigate whether Meta's proposed changes may breach competition law, using the most appropriate powers available to us to examine these issues in detail."
The investigation applies to businesses affected by Meta’s commercial terms. The regulator is using its powers to examine these issues in detail. No final decision has been made yet on whether Meta has broken the law.
Written by StreetOwl from Competition and Markets Authority’s own announcement. It was drafted by StreetOwl’s own model, every figure and quotation was checked by code against the announcement, and it was read and approved by Michael Rossi before it went up. It says what was announced, not what anyone should do about it.
← Back to StreetOwl