Facebook
Scraping Teardown

The robots.txt file for Facebook outlines a broad and restrictive set of rules that limit the activities of most automated crawlers. It lists a series of Disallow: / and Disallow: /your_page directives, effectively barring access to a significant portion of the site. These rules do not exclude any standard user agents, implying that their implementation applies universally, with only specific exceptions for reputable and known bots such as Googlebot or Bingbot.

While the file does not provide any explicit Allow: entries or clear-cut exceptions, it does reference several sitemaps including Sitemap: https://www.facebook.com/sitemap.php. However, the practical implications for non-whitelisted web scrapers are largely restrictive. In summary, considering the multitude of disallowance directives and the absence of allowances, the robots.txt file for Facebook indicates a very restrictive approach towards general web scraping activities.

The terms of service for Facebook include explicit statements about automated access and data extraction. The terms state:

"You may not access or collect data from our Products using automated means (without our prior permission) or attempt to access data you do not have permission to access, regardless of whether such automated access or collection is undertaken while logged-in to a Facebook account."

"You may not do, or attempt to do, anything to circumvent, bypass, or override any technological measures that Meta uses to control or limit access to our Products or data."

This clearly prohibits scraping, crawling, or other automated collection across both public and logged-in areas. While enforceability can depend on whether a user has explicitly agreed to the terms (for example, by creating an account or using the site), Facebook frames these restrictions as broadly applicable to any access to its Products.

Facebook provides official APIs governed by separate platform terms and policies, which are the recognized path for permitted data access. The terms reference:

"Meta Platform Policy : These terms apply to the use of the set of APIs, SDKs, tools, plugins, code, technology, content, and services that enables others to develop functionality, retrieve data from MetaProducts, or provide data to us."

Bypassing barriers such as logins, rate limits, or CAPTCHAs falls under prohibited attempts to defeat "technological measures." The terms outline consequences, including content removal and account sanctions:

"We can remove or restrict access to content that is in violation of these provisions. We can also suspend or disable your account for conduct that violates these provisions, as provided in Section 4.2."

Given these rules, scraping is only possible under specific conditions, such as with prior written permission or via compliant use of official APIs under the Platform Terms.