Breaking: UK Regulator Asks Meta (Ex-Facebook) To Sell Giphy

Meta, the owner of Facebook has faced defeat in the gif creation website Giphy deal as the UK competition regulator announced its verdict. This is the first time the watchdog has blocked any such deal done by a major company.

Meta accepts UK watchdog’s decision

As per reports, Meta has admitted defeat in the event as the watchdog gave out its final verdict. It checked that the acquisition has reduced innovation in the advertising market.

Sell GIPHY, in its entirety, to a suitable buyer, said the Competition and Markets Authority (CAM).

Meta’s spokesperson has expressed sorrow over the verdict. It mentioned that Meta is disappointed by the watchdog’s decision. However, the company has accepted today’s ruling as the final word on the matter.

The report states that Facebook official asserts that it will work under the guidelines of CMA over divesting GIPHY. It stated that Meta is grateful to the GIPHY team during this unprecedented time. However, it highlighted that the social media giant will pursue generating opportunities through acquisition and other sources to bring choice to more of its users.

Meta is actively pushing its limits in the WEB3 space. Earlier it announced that Facebook had opened NFT sharing capabilities in certain parts of the world. This will allow the users to connect their digital wallets and share their collections.

UK regulators this stance has come in order to show that it wants to become a major force in the struggle among other global watchdogs. It mentioned that this move has pushed Giphy as a potential challenger in the UK advertising industry.

A bad time for Facebook

The Meta $400 million acquisition deal of GIPHY was one of barely one of the biggest deals initiated. The social media giant has spent more money than this money over several deals. Earlier, it acquired messaging platform WhatsApp for $19 billion and bought Instagram for around $1 billion.

However, Facebook has been facing backlash from several countries right now. Coingape reported that Russia has labeled the social media giant as a terrorist and extremist organization. The Russian authorities have been claiming that Facebook is an extremist organization for a long time.