Meta · Terms of Service

Meta (Facebook) Terms of Service — Plain-Language Summary

What this is: These are the rules for using Facebook, Messenger, and most other Meta products (not Instagram, which has its own terms). They took effect January 1, 2025.

How Meta makes money off you: You don't pay cash, but you pay with your attention and data. Meta uses information about your activity and interests to show you personalized ads. Advertisers tell Meta what kind of audience they want; Meta matches you to those ads without revealing your name or contact details to the advertiser. Meta says it does not sell your personal data directly, but it does use it extensively to target ads.

Your content: You keep ownership of photos, videos, and posts you create. But by posting, you automatically give Meta a broad, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, modify, distribute, and create derivative works from your content — across all Meta products and their service providers. That license only fully ends when the content is deleted from all Meta systems, which can take up to 90 days (or longer if Meta cites legal, safety, or technical reasons).

Your account and disputes: Meta can suspend or permanently delete your account at its discretion if it decides you've violated its rules. If a legal dispute arises, consumers in their home country can generally sue there, but Meta reserves the right to sue you in California courts under California law. You cannot sue Meta as part of a class action — disputes go through individual litigation only.