Meta’s new terms make you responsible for what its AI does to your ads. Here’s what to check

On Friday, Meta pushed back new terms for businesses that use Facebook and Instagram, from October 30 to November 20. A spokesperson told Reuters the company wanted more time “to explain to our partners and stakeholders what’s changing and what’s not.”

Most of the criticism has come from publishers and advertisers worried about how Meta could use their content for AI. For a small business that advertises on Meta, the part to read is a new section that says its AI features “may make mistakes,” and that the risk is yours.

What the new terms say

The updated Commercial Terms and Self-Serve Ad Terms add a section called “AI Features.” Under the current terms, Adweek reported, advertisers carried the risk of AI output only if they chose to use Meta’s AI tools. The new ad terms say:

• Mistakes are expected. You “acknowledge and agree that AI features may make mistakes and may not always produce accurate, complete, or suitable results.”
• The risk is yours. You are “solely responsible for and assume any and all risks associated with such AI features and any resulting Ad Creative.”
• So is the review. You’re responsible for your ads, “including for reviewing, approving or removing them, even when you use our automated features.”
• The labels stay. You may not remove the watermarks or other markers that Meta’s AI attaches to what it makes.

Two things haven’t changed. Meta’s liability to you is capped at $100 or what you’ve paid it in the past 12 months, whichever is greater. And if you keep advertising after November 20, you’ve accepted the new terms.

What Meta’s AI is already changing

This isn’t hypothetical. The digital agency Exverus told Adweek that Meta’s AI is adding sitelinks, translating copy, and making AI images and carousels out of brands’ own photos, sometimes on ads where the advertiser never switched the feature on. Even after several rounds of checks, the agency has had to pull live ads to strip out changes that slipped through.

“Meta auto-applies the enhancements, and many of the options are tucked away in hidden or collapsed menus,” said Ryan Adams, the agency’s paid search and social specialist. Bookshop.org wrote on Threads that an account update opted it into new features, and that one of its ads was “‘enhanced’ (or ruined, really) by Meta without our knowledge.”

Asked whether advertisers are responsible for AI features they never switched on, a Meta spokesperson didn’t directly answer, Adweek reported, but said advertisers can turn off individual Advantage+ features in Ads Manager at any time.

Closer to home

If you boost posts or run ads for a restaurant in Dothan, a shop in Enterprise, or a contractor anywhere in the Wiregrass, these terms cover you, whether or not anyone on your team has touched an AI setting.

An AI-written line promising a discount you don’t offer is still your ad, and your business insurance may not cover AI mistakes.

The terms also let Meta crawl the websites tied to your business for its ad and business products. After objections, Meta removed a reference to AI training, and it says site owners will be able to use robots.txt, the file that tells crawlers what to skip, to signal their preferences.

Five things to do before November 20

1. Check the Advantage+ creative settings on every active ad. Turn off any enhancement you haven’t approved, and check new ads the same way before they publish.
2. Look at your ads the way customers do. Check what’s running, not just what you built, and screenshot the version you approved.
3. Keep your website current. Meta’s AI can add links to pages on your site, so make sure the prices, hours, and specials on them are right.
4. Ask whoever runs your ads. If an agency or an employee manages your account, ask which AI features are on and who checks the results.
5. Write down your rules. One page on which AI features you allow in your ads, and who reviews an ad before and after it runs.

Where we can help

Our AI strategy and training work includes independent reviews of the AI tools you use or are being pitched, and plain-language policies on which tools are approved and how AI output gets checked. Not sure which AI features are switched on in the tools you already use? Book a free strategy call.

Sources

• Reuters: Meta to delay new commercial terms criticised by publishers, advertisers, October 23, 2026
• Engadget: Meta is delaying its controversial new business terms amid scraping concerns, October 24, 2026
• Adweek: Advertisers Pull Meta Ads That Had Unwanted AI Glow-ups, October 22, 2026
• Meta: the updated Self-Serve Ad Terms and Commercial Terms, effective November 20, 2026