Facebook ordered to sell Giphy over GIF monopoly fears

FACEBOOK has been told it must sell popular GIF site Giphy.

The service is one of the most well-known for sending animated pics to friends but UK competition officials were worried the firm had too much control over them.

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The CMA watchdog said Facebook owner Meta could unfairly limit the likes of TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter from accessing GIFs.

Facebook has been pleading with bosses that they wouldn’t restrict competition since buying Giphy for a reported $400million in 2020.

But officials have concluded the only way is for Giphy to be “sold off in its entirety”.

Meta admitted it was disappointed by the ruling but would accept the decision.

“We are disappointed by the CMA’s decision but accept today’s ruling as the final word on the matter. We will work closely with the CMA on divesting Giphy,” a rep said.

The watchdog warned that Facebook’s ownership of Giphy could push people towards Meta-owned sites which already dominate.

They didn’t like that Facebook could effectively demand rivals provide more data from UK users in order to access Giphy GIFs.

And they were also concerned about what it meant for digital advertising, which the tech giant already has a huge slice of.

“This deal would significantly reduce competition in two markets,” said Stuart McIntosh, chair of the independent inquiry group carrying out the remittal investigation.

“It has already resulted in the removal of a potential challenger in the UK display ad market, while also giving Meta the ability to further increase its substantial market power in social media.

“The only way this can be addressed is by the sale of Giphy.

“This will promote innovation in digital advertising, and also ensure UK social media users continue to benefit from access to Giphy.”

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