Facebook recently claimed in court that Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority broke international law by blocking the social media giant’s purchase of Giphy, a searchable database of animated GIF files for use on social media.
The Register reports that Facebook (now known as Meta) claimed in court proceedings this week that the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) broke international law by blocking Facebook’s $400 million purchase of the popular gif-sharing company Giphy.
Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill April 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. This is the second day of testimony before Congress by Zuckerberg, 33, after it was reported that 87 million Facebook users had their personal information harvested by Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm linked to the Trump campaign.
Facebook attempted to acquire Giphy in May 2020 for $400 million but was blocked by the CMA, which alleged that the deal would lead to a significant lessening of competition in the digital display advertising market.
Giphy is used by other popular websites including Pinterest, Reddit, and the workplace communication firm Slack. Facebook hasn’t been allowed to integrate Giphy into its platform due to the ongoing investigation and will have to shut down its deal with the company and sell off Giphy if the CMA’s antitrust concerns are confirmed.
Facebook filed a formal legal bid against the CMA order to sell the Giphy business earlier this year. This week, a barrister representing Facebook told Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) judges that “the adverse impact on competition in the UK was at best speculative.” The barrister further alleged that there was “global concern” about the CMA blocking Facebook’s purchase of Giphy.
Facebook’s counsel added: “The legal points we’re raising are that the CMA misdirected itself on international law and exercised its jurisdiction in breach of international law.”
The barrister representing CMA told the court: “When submissions like these are made, the tribunal has to go through them very carefully to determine if they are relevant and admissible to the arguments being run.”
Read more at The Register here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com