Facebook has been slapped
with a 110 million euro (£94.5 million/ $123 million) fine after the EU's
anti-trust watchdog said it provided 'incorrect or misleading' information
regarding its $19 billion (£15.3 billion) takeover of WhatsApp.
The European Commission said
the social network inaccurately claimed it would be unable to combine user data
between the two companies' accounts.
'Contrary to Facebook's
statements in the 2014 merger review process, the technical possibility of
automatically matching Facebook and WhatsApp users' identities already existed
in 2014, and Facebook staff were aware of such a possibility,' the commission
said.
It added that the ruling does
not affect its decision to approve the merger.
Commissioner Margrethe
Vestager, who has recently put the tax affairs of a number of high-profile
firms including Apple, Amazon and Google under the microscope, said the
sanction was 'proportionate and deterrent'.
She added: 'Today's decision
sends a clear signal to companies that they must comply with all aspects of EU
merger rules, including the obligation to provide correct information.
'And it imposes a
proportionate and deterrent fine on Facebook.
'The commission must be able
to take decisions about mergers' effects on competition in full knowledge of
accurate facts.'
The Commission can fine a
company as much as 1 per cent of its global turnover, which in Facebook's case
could have reached $276 million (£212 million) based on its 2016 revenue.
The move by the European
Commission will come after a six-month investigation.
European Competition
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in March told a news conference that a small
handful of companies may have provided misleading information when they sought
approval for their mergers.
The EU sanction will come on
the heels of a 150,000-euro ($167,000 / £128 000) fine handed down by a French
data watchdog to Facebook on Tuesday for failing to prevent its users' data
being accessed by advertisers.
Italian antitrust authorities
levied a 3-million-euro fine ($3.3 million/ £2.6 million) on WhatsApp last week
for allegedly obliging users to agree to share their personal data with
Facebook.
'We've acted in good faith
since our very first interactions with the Commission and we've sought to
provide accurate information at every turn', a Facebook spokesperson told
MailOnline.
'The errors we made in our
2014 filings were not intentional and the Commission has confirmed that they
did not impact the outcome of the merger review. Today's announcement brings
this matter to a close.'
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