According to Meta, the CMA failed to evaluate Giphy’s offer to ensure that it could continue to give services to competitors.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has filed an appeal against a British competition authority judgment that it must sell Giphy, arguing that the transaction eliminated a potential competitor in display advertising.
Meta announced last month that it has filed an appeal against the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) decision to prohibit the 2020 acquisition of Giphy.
It was the first time the British regulator had banned a large digital acquisition, and it signaled a significant shift in the government’s monitoring of “big tech” firms.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal published a summary of Meta’s application on Wednesday, explaining its challenge on six grounds.
The US business, which controls Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook, claimed the CMA failed to evaluate its offer to ensure Giphy could continue to supply services to competitors like Snapchat and TikTok under the same conditions.
Meta said that the regulator’s judgment was also procedurally faulty.
In November, the CMA ordered Meta to sell Giphy, which it acquired for a reported $400 million (approximately Rs. 2,980 crores) in May 2020, after determining that the solutions presented by the US business did not address its concerns.
