Facebook fined $69.6 million by UK regulator for breaching order in Giphy deal

Facebook is once again in trouble as the social media platform has been fined £50.5 million ($69.6 million) for failing to follow the set rules during the purchase of GIF platform Giphy.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has fined Facebook as it believes that the company purposely failed to comply with the orders given by the regulator.

CMA has imposed this huge monetary fine on the Mark Zuckerberg-owned company to set an example that no company is greater than the law.

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As per CMA, Facebook has failed to give full updates regarding the company’s compliance with requirements of continuing to compete with Giphy, instead of integrating its operation. The regulator claims that even though they sent repeated warnings to Facebook, the company failed to provide all relevant information.

This, the company believes, is a deliberate non-compliance with the regulations set by the regulator. "We warned Facebook that its refusal to provide us with important information was a breach of the order but, even after losing its appeal in two separate courts, Facebook continued to disregard its legal obligations," said Joel Bamford, senior director of mergers at the CMA. "This should serve as a warning to any company that thinks it is above the law."

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However, Facebook has rubbished these claims by the CMA and have said that they strongly disagree with these allegations. Calling it ‘unfair’, the social media platform said they will soon review the decision and penalty and then consider other options.

"We strongly disagree with the CMA's unfair decision to punish Facebook for a best effort compliance approach, which the CMA itself ultimately approved, " Facebook said. "We will review the CMA’s decision and consider our options."

This has also come at a time when several reports have claimed that Facebook is planning to rebrand with the hope of another parent company overseeing its brands.