UK regulator hands Meta new fine over Giphy takeover

LONDON — Britain on Friday ordered Facebook parent Meta to pay another £1.5 million for breaching regulatory rules over its acquisition of animated graphics startup Giphy.

The Competition and Markets Authority said in a statement that Meta had failed to alert the regulator in advance of three key staff leaving Giphy as it probed the transaction.

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.

"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 watchdog said on Friday.

The penalty took into account the "nature and gravity of the breach in question".

In reaction, Meta said 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," said a company spokesperson.

"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."

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 CMA then launched an investigation into the proposed acquisition one month later.

The British watchdog then ordered Meta to sell Giphy in November 2021, ruling the deal would harm competition and advertising.

However, Meta is appealing this verdict in a hearing due at the end of April.