Facebook’s parent company, Meta, must sell its gif creation website Giphy after the UK watchdog confirmed an original decision made last November.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) told Meta it must sell the gif site in a ruling nearly a year ago.
Meta had bought the company two years ago for £290mln, with this ruling the first time the CMA has blocked a deal by the Silicon Valley company.
Concerns centred around Facebook “increasing its significant power in social media” by cutting off the supply of gifs to rivals, such as Twitter and Snapchat, and sending users to Meta's own sites, such as Instagram and WhatsApp.
The CMA also claimed that Facebook could, if it wished, change the terms of access to Giphy for competitors, such as requiring them to provide more user data to access the content.
Additionally, the watchdog raised concerns that Meta had removed a competitor in the display ad market, an area where it already controls half of the activity in the UK.
Giphy had launched its own ad service that allowed organisations to promote their brand through GIFs and potentially rival Facebook in this market.
However, Facebook shut down the service, eliminating a potential competitor.
A Competition Appeal Tribunal in July upheld the CMA’s decision, which prompted the CMA to conduct a review of its original ruling and today, standing by its decision.
Meta said it accepted the decision as the final word on the matter and would sell Giphy.