Meta fined $2 million over Giphy acquisition by UK watchdog

This is not the first time Meta failed to inform the CMA of staff changes at the appropriate time, having failed to do so multiple times in 2021, says watchdog

PGurus Newsdesk

February 7, 2022

This is not the first time Meta failed to inform the CMA of staff changes at the appropriate time, having failed to do so multiple times in 2021, says watchdog

UK CMA fines Meta $2 mn over Giphy acquisition, Meta reacts on fine

After failing to notify the regulator about the resignation of three key employees and the reallocation of their roles The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has fined Meta (formerly Facebook) $2 million.

The CMA has slapped a fine against Meta for failing to disclose key changes regarding its $315 million acquisition of online database and search engine Giphy.

The penalty, equivalent to $2 million or 1.8 million euros, comes after the CMA had already fined the group £50.5 million last October for failing to supply information linked to the deal.

The watchdog said, “This is not the first time Meta failed to inform the CMA of staff changes at the appropriate time, having failed to do so multiple times in 2021.” The penalty took into account the “nature and gravity of the breach in question.”

Meta reacted saying that it would pay up — but described the fine as problematic.

“We are disappointed by the CMA’s decision to fine us because of the voluntary departure of US-based employees. We intend to pay the fine, but it is problematic that the CMA can take decisions that could directly impact the rights of our US employees protected under US law,” said a company spokesperson

Meta had announced the purchase of Giphy — a platform and search engine for “stickers” and other products using the graphics interchange format or GIFs — for a reported $400 million in May 2020.

The UK anti-competition watchdog had ruled that Facebook’s acquisition of Giphy would reduce competition between social media platforms and that the deal has already removed Giphy as a potential challenger in the display advertising market.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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