Antitrust regulators in the UK say they have blocked Giphy’s Meta purchase

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is expected to change its parent company Facebook in the days to come, according to . If so, it would be the first time that competitors in this country have introduced a great deal of professionalism.

Meta (or Facebook, at the time) announced in May 2020 that it had purchased the GIF platform with the intention of posting it on Instagram. Reports indicated the value of the deal at $ 400 million.

The CMA raised concerns about the purchase, however. It in contract next month. Supervisor that the alliance could prevent rivals such as TikTok and Snapchat from accessing the Giphy Library for GIFs. It also said the alliance could remove a competitor from Meta in the UK advertising sector. Meta has terminated Giphy’s pay agreement, which the CMA said has halted corporate growth, including in other countries.

The regulator said Meta could be forced to sell the service. A CMA spokesman told Engadget that it did not publish the final ruling, but did to do so.

Meta has previously stated that because Giphy has no job in the UK, the CMA has no control over this issue. In addition, it said Giphy paid services could not be considered advertising in terms of the CMA market definition.

The dispute between Meta and the CMA escalated in October, with officials paying the company fines violation of contractual laws. The CMA said this was the first time the company had violated one of its rules “by deliberately refusing to say all that is required.”