300 Publishers Press Congress for AI Bot Scraping Disclosure Rules

Condé Nast and Hearst were among 300 publishers pressing Congress for AI bot scraping regulation, in a lobbying effort reported on September 30, 2026. Their target: unidentified bots that collect website content without disclosure. The publishers support a bipartisan bill that would require those bots to identify themselves and their purposes—or face civil penalties. Key takeaways The publisher campaign backs mandatory disclosure for content-scraping bots. The Stealth Bot Prohibition Act proposes federal penalties and attorney general enforcement. Several participating publishers also have paid AI content-licensing agreements.

Source: The Cryptonomist