Meta said on November 5 that it was pausing four proposed terms updates indefinitely. O Globo reported the next day that the pause applied worldwide. The announcement came after a São Paulo court reportedly issued a separate, provisional injunction concerning Meta’s use of participating news publishers’ content.

A pause to proposed contract changes and a provisional court order are separate developments, with different scopes and legal effects.

Meta paused four proposed terms updates

Meta’s notice named the Meta Commercial Terms, Product Catalog Terms, Self-Serve Ad Terms, and Ad Creative Generative AI Terms. The company said the updates would not take effect on November 20 and that its existing terms would remain in force. Nieman Journalism Lab reported the notice; O Globo reported that the pause was worldwide.

What the São Paulo injunction reportedly covered

On November 3, São Paulo’s 44th Civil Court reportedly granted a preliminary injunction sought by the National Newspaper Association (ANJ), the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (ABERT), and the National Association of Magazine Publishers (ANER). Reports described it as restricting Meta’s unauthorized collection and use of the associations’ members’ content, including for AI development and training, whether that content appeared on publishers’ own websites or Meta’s services.

The reported order also required Meta to keep participating outlets’ accounts, pages, and tools operational and not penalize them for rejecting the proposed terms. Coverage put the penalty for noncompliance at R$1 million per day, capped at R$100 million. Valor International reported the injunction’s terms.

The terms proposal and the court measure followed separate tracks

The wording of Meta’s proposal had changed before the pause. Reporters Without Borders reported that on October 16 Meta removed the word “train” from the proposed terms while broad permissions to collect content for advertising and commercial products remained. Its account of the wording change concerns the proposal; it does not change the separate restrictions described in reports about the São Paulo injunction.

The injunction was provisional, pending a final judgment. Meta’s later pause of the proposed contract updates was a separate company decision.