Social media pioneer Facebook Inc. (FB) might be forced to sell its GIF website Giphy after an investigation by Britain’s antitrust regulator Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found out that the deal between the companies could possibly harm competition in display advertising.
The market regulator revealed its findings on August 11, further adding that it might result to force Facebook to sell Giphy.
“Giphy’s takeover could see Facebook withdrawing GIFs from competing platforms or requiring more user data in order to access them. It also removes a potential challenger to Facebook,” said the chair of independent investigation from CMA, Stuart McIntosh.
The antitrust regulator is now open to comments from interested parties by September 2 so as for the regulator to capture the comments in its provisional findings.
Back in April, CMA initiated an intensive investigation on the deal after Facebook announced that it won’t be giving any concessions to address concerns on the matter.
