Facebook’s takeover of All Giphy, a Giphy’s vast library of short video cartoons is enormously popular in Facebook’s apps.Now, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is exploring if the purchase is a problem.It Has sent an enforcement order to Facebook, effectively placing a hold on any merging of the companies until its investigation is over.
Announcing The acquisition in May this year, Facebook said that half of Giphy’s traffic comes from Facebook apps, including Whatsapp and Instagram.
The CMA, however, said it was investigating whether the acquisition”may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition”. But The authorities means Facebook must keep the Giphy firm, employees, and technology separate from Facebook itself – unless it gets advance written permission from the CMA.
Facebook says it plans to roll the company to its Instagram group, where the”stickers” Giphy provides are most popular.A Facebook company spokesperson stated that Giphy”enhances Instagram’s offerings by giving people more features and resources”.They Also reiterated the company’s previous stance that other businesses which use Giphy would not shed any access to this stage.
“We are The Merger of Facebook and Instagram was investigated back in 2012 by the Office of Fair Trading, which used to handle such issues. It chose not to pursue the issue any farther.It is not the first time issues have been raised about the Facebook-Gimpy bargain, with queries raised over what level of access Facebook would have to its competitor’s data through the service.
In May, shortly after the statement, several US senators told the Verge they had such issues .The Republican Senator for Missouri, Josh Hawley, said:”Facebook keeps On the lookout for even more ways to take our data… Facebook wants Giphy so it Can collect even more information on us”
