Mastodon has updated its terms of service to explicitly prohibit the use of its platform for AI model training. This move follows a similar decision by X, signalling a growing trend among social networks to protect user data from unauthorised AI use. Effective from July 1, the new rules forbid scraping user data for purposes such as archiving or training large language models (LLMs). The updated terms of service restrict the use of automated systems for data extraction, except for standard search engines or web browsers. Mastodon has also raised its minimum age for users from 13 to 16 globally.
It's important to note that these new terms apply specifically to the Mastodon.social server, which is operated directly by Mastodon gGmbH. While users on the main instance are now protected, those on other independent servers will only receive the same protection if their instance administrators adopt similar terms. Other platforms, including Reddit, have introduced similar restrictions to prevent unauthorised AI model training.
Mastodon's emphasis on privacy and compliance aims to position it as a safer haven for users wary of centralised data control. By decentralising data storage and federating interactions, Mastodon reduces the risk of large-scale data monopolies, which regulators increasingly target. For AI firms, Mastodon's ecosystem presents both opportunity and constraint: access to a privacy-compliant user base, albeit smaller than X's, with fewer regulatory hurdles, but limited data volume may hinder training of large-scale models unless aggregated across multiple servers.
