Publishers press Congress over AI stealth crawlers

The Stealth Bot Prohibition Act would require AI stealth crawlers to disclose who they are and why they are accessing a site.[1] It would prohibit deploying stealth bots in ways that damage, impair or burden a website’s or internet service’s technical or commercial operation.[3] The proposal would also prohibit intentionally disguising AI bots as human users for generative AI purposes.[3] Its scope is not limited to publishers: the federal bill would extend to websites and digital platforms generally.[2]

More than 300 publishers were heading to Washington as part of an effort to press Congress to address bad bots.[2] Executives from Condé Nast, Hearst Magazines, USA Today Co. and The Seattle Times were among those expected to take part.[2] They planned to meet senators, other members of Congress and congressional staff on Capitol Hill.[2] The News/Media Alliance organized the trip around the bill, while media executives hoped the meetings would educate lawmakers about publishers’ concerns and build support for the proposal.[2]

The proposed law would let the Federal Trade Commission seek penalties of up to $53,000 per violation, with the amount subject to inflation adjustments.[4] It would also provide for state enforcement.[4] Those provisions describe a proposed enforcement framework, not a current legal obligation: the bill had not been enacted.[4] It also does not establish a licensing price or automatically require AI companies to pay for scraped material.[4]

A News/Media Alliance speaker said bot traffic hurt publishers’ ability to serve readers and that existing technical tools were insufficient against actors disguising their identities.[1] The Alliance also said AI companies use disguised bots to scrape journalism for training and operating competing systems.[1] The bill would not itself determine a licensing fee, leaving that question outside its stated requirements.[4]