The British Antitrust Authority ordered Meta to sell Giphy

The British Antitrust Authority has ordered Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms to sell the Giphy gif sharing platform. According to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the acquisition of Giphy may harm social media users as well as UK advertisers. Meta stated that it did not agree with the decision and was considering an appeal. This is the first time the CMA has forced a large technology company to cancel an already completed transaction. According to CMA, Geta's acquisition of Meta will reduce cross-platform competition in the social media segment. Facebook could further increase the already large market dominance compared to other platforms by restricting or completely denying access to the Giphy platform's animated image database. This would increase visits to Facebook-owned sites such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. They already account for 73% of the time users in the UK spend on social media. The meta may also change the terms of access to gifs in the Giphy database, the CMA said. For example, it may require other platforms, such as TikTok, Twitter, or Snapchat, in exchange for access to provide more user information. Prior to the takeover agreement last May, the Giphy platform launched its own advertising services and was considering expanding to countries outside the United States. According to the CMA, Giphy's advertising services could compete with Facebook's advertising services and could support innovation by other social networks and advertisers. After the acquisition, Facebook canceled Giphy's advertising services, which according to the CMA is a cause for concern, especially given that Facebook controls almost half of the digital display advertising market in the United Kingdom.