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Terms of use

Meta

Meta Terms of Service

D

Risk score

69of 100

Open the original (new tab)Company page

In short

  • You accept a broad license to use, copy, and share your content across Meta products.
  • Meta may change these terms without strict notice, and continued use binds you to the new rules.
  • You agree that Meta controls account deletions and retains data for legal or technical reasons.

What you accept

If you tap Agree

Everyday words for the material promises and rights you give up. Each line includes a quote from the document.

  1. 01

    You are agreeing that Meta gets a broad, sub-licensable license to host, distribute, and modify your content on Facebook and other Meta products.

    Other products, stores, or brands

    “you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, and worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content”
  2. 02

    You are agreeing that Meta can update these terms and bind you if you keep using the service.

    This product

    “Once any updated Terms are in effect, you will be bound by them if you continue to access or use our Products.”
  3. 03

    You are agreeing that Meta can suspend or disable your account at its sole discretion if it believes you violated the terms.

    This product

    “If we determine, in our discretion, that you have clearly, seriously or repeatedly breached our Terms or Policies... we may suspend or permanently disable your access to Meta Company Products”

What it can cost you

Downsides we could quote

Quoted clauses that can affect your privacy, money, or right to go to court — including terms that follow you to other products.

Highest-cost clauses first

High cost

Liability shifted onto the user

You are agreeing to hold Meta harmless and cap your potential compensation at $100.

“We do not control or direct what people and others do or say... We DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES... Our aggregate liability... will not exceed the greater of $100 or the amount you have paid us in the past twelve months.”

What that means: You have little recourse if the service fails or causes you issues; Meta pays very little if forced to.

Meta excludes all warranties and limits its financial responsibility for damages to $100.

High cost

Broad license to user content

You are agreeing to give Meta broad rights to use and share your content.

“you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, and worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content”

What that means: Your photos and posts can be used, modified, and shared by Meta and its partners widely.

Meta takes rights to use your content broadly, including sub-licensing to others, which extends beyond simple service provision.

High cost

Difficult or incomplete deletion

You are agreeing that deletion processes may delay actual data removal significantly.

“After the content is deleted, it may take us up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster recovery systems.”

What that means: Your deleted content may remain accessible to system administrators or recoverable for 3 months later.

Even after you delete an item, Meta keeps it in backup systems for up to 90 additional days.

Medium cost

Jury trial or court access waived

You are agreeing to resolve disputes only in California courts under California law.

“any claim... shall be resolved exclusively in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California... the laws of the State of California will govern these Terms”

What that means: If you sue Meta, you must travel to or pay for lawyers in California, making small claims impractical.

Disputes must be handled in specific courts in California under California law.

Medium cost

Unilateral changes with little or no notice

You are agreeing to accept changes to the terms simply by continuing to use the app.

“Unless otherwise required by law, we will notify you before we make changes to these Terms... Once any updated Terms are in effect, you will be bound by them if you continue to access or use our Products.”

What that means: You must check for updates or risk being bound by new unfavorable rules.

Meta can change the terms anytime. If you don't leave after being notified, you accept the changes.

Medium cost

Indefinite retention

You are agreeing that others can keep your content forever if they use their license right.

“Content will not be deleted within 90 days... where your content has been used by others in accordance with this license and they have not deleted it”

What that means: Your content persists as long as others choose to keep using their licensed copies.

If someone else uses your content via the license, it stays until they delete it, potentially indefinitely.

People also accept these terms in

The same company terms often apply on these apps or devices. This is a lookup aid, not a claim we caught this company.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Whatsapp
  • Meta Quest
  • Oculus

If these terms already apply to you

Keep this list. Fineprint cannot undo or cancel something you already agreed to at the company.

We cannot see Agree on their site. With Premium, tap “I accepted these terms” if you already agreed to what Meta asks.