Despite being under investigation for its Giphy transaction, Meta neglected to disclose important changes about its company to the UK Competition and Markets Authority.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined Meta, formerly known as Facebook, for failing to cooperate in an examination into its acquisition of Giphy.
The $400 million Meta-Giphy transactions has been under scrutiny by the competition watchdog since June 2020, a month after it was announced.
The competition authority fined Meta £1.5 million on Friday after the business failed to notify the resignation of key employees, as required by the probe.
According to the CMA, Meta neglected to notify the regulator of three key workers’ resignations and role reallocations. These three people had previously been named on a list of key personnel supplied to the CMA by Meta.
The £1.5 million fine is the second imposed by the regulator on Meta in connection with the Giphy purchase, with the company being fined £50 million for drastically limiting the scope of compliance reports.
The sanction comes after the CMA previously ordered Meta to sell Giphy after concluding that the internet giant’s acquisition of the GIF powerhouse would limit competition across social media platforms and the local advertising market.
That guidance is currently being challenged, as Meta filed an appeal with the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal last month. In that appeal, the digital behemoth claims the regulator lacks the authority to compel a sale.
The fine adds to Meta’s woes, with the software behemoth shedding about a quarter of its worth on Thursday, over $240 million, in a week that saw it sell up its crypto foray Diem, forecast a $10 billion damage from forthcoming iOS changes, and face its first-ever criminal charges.
