October 19, 2022
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has again ordered Meta to sell the animated image platform and GIF creation website Giphy.
Since the purchase in 2020, the CMA has been examining the purchase of Giphy by Meta, and in November 2021 the CMA issued an initial decision stating that Meta should sell Giphy.
Meta declined because it hoped the purchase of Giphy would improve the discovery of GIFs and stickers on its social networks. It also stated that Giphy would be open to other social networks.
The CMA was unimpressed and claimed that its investigation had shown that the acquisition would harm competition in social media and advertising. Meta was subsequently fined a record £50.5 million for not cooperating with the CMA during the investigation.
Meta appealed this decision, but the Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled in favor of the CMA on all but one ground concerning confidential third-party information. The CMA subsequently stated that it had reviewed and maintained its original decision that Meta Giphy must be sold.
Meta has agreed to sell Giphy and expressed gratitude to the team and promised to continue exploring ways to provide more people in the U.K. and around the world with innovation and choice.
The sources for this piece include an article in BBC.
