Of course they can but my point still stands: what I do with data that is, by every definition, running on MY computer is my business, not Facebook's. Them banning me for doing that (possibly violating their Terms) is a separate argument.

In addition, NYU didn't sign up to Facebook so they have no need to abide by their Terms. At least, they shouldn't have to abide by them... not sure what the laws in the US say about it.

I'm not for government intervention for things like this but the courts (I believe) have already ruled that scraping data is legit.

Edit: added that I think they shouldn't be able to have a say