News, Reviews & Betas which includes large community peer support The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has ordered Facebook to sell Giphy to an approved buyer. It said the sale could see access by other social media platforms to Giphy GIFs restricted.<\/b>
\nThe United Kingdom\u2019s Competition and Markets Authority has directed Facebook to sell Giphy over concerns that the acquisition would reduce competition among social media platforms. It said that Meta\u2019s Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram account for 73% of user time on social media in the UK and the purchase of Giphy could limit other platforms\u2019 access to Giphy GIFs and ultimately drive more traffic to Meta-owned platforms. While it\u2019s possible that Facebook wouldn\u2019t restrict access to Giphy GIFs, the CMA worries that it could change the terms of service so that other platforms such as TikTok, Twitter, and Snapchat would be forced to hand over more user data for access to Giphy GIFs. Another aspect that the CMA pointed out is that Giphy was just getting into the ad space in the United States and could have done the same in the UK but won\u2019t have the opportunity to do so if Meta buys it. Meta is already a dominant player in the ad space and this move looks like it\u2019s trying to limit competition. Stuart McIntosh, Chair of the independent inquiry group carrying out the investigation said: The CMA\u2019s announcement said that the competition concerns can only be addressed if Meta sells Giphy to an approved buyer in its entirety. It\u2019ll be interesting to see how Facebook responds to this going forward as it disagrees with the CMA\u2019s line of argument.<\/p>\n