On Thursday 18 May, the European Commission decided to fine Facebook €110 million for having provided incorrect or misleading information in the framework of its acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014.
It suspects the American company of having lied to it on the possibility of linking accounts on the two social networks. The decision to approve the acquisition, issued on 30 October 2014, is, however, safe.
Commenting on the verdict, Margrethe Vestager, the Commissioner in charge of competition policy, said that “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”.
In August 2014, when the merger between the two web giants was notified, Facebook assured the Commission that it was not able to link the accounts of its users to those of WhatsApp users. However, in August 2016, WhatsApp informed its users that the two accounts could be linked, by linking their telephone numbers to their Facebook user profiles. The Commission considers that the technical possibility to link the accounts already existed in 2014 and that consequently, Facebook provided it with incorrect information.
The Commission sent a statement of objections to Facebook on 20 December 2016 (see EUROPE 11693), stressing that the merger would not be called into question, as the approval decision had been made on the basis of a variety of factors that went beyond the linking of the user accounts, as it explained in a press release.
Reacting to the decision, the European Consumer Organisation (known by its French acronym, BEUC) welcomed the fine handed down to the social networking giant, but regretted the fact that the Commission had not reconsidered its decision to approve the merger.
Facebook risked a fine of 1% of its annual turnover, which would have doubled the actual fine. However, the Commission took account of the company's cooperation in the investigation and therefore set the fine at €110 million. It is worth noting that this is the highest fine ever handed down for an infringement in the framework of a merger, the Commission's spokesperson for competition matters, Ricardo Cardoso, told a press conference. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)