The European Commission has sent formal antitrust charges to Facebook for allegedly submitting misleading information during the review carried out by the EU authority over Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014.
The origin of the investigation concerns the fact that, in August 2016, WhatsApp’s service was being updated in order to link users’ phone numbers to their identities on Facebook. According to the Commission, it seems that this was already possible during the 2014 antitrust review. The Commission is therefore concerned that Facebook provided incorrect information to the EU and, consequently, breached its obligations under EU Competition Law.
The Commission has expressed that the investigation is not related to consumer protection, neighboring privacy or data protection issues.
The investigation could result in a fine of up to 1% of Facebook’s turnover but it will not affect the validity of the
Commission’s decision that cleared the transaction.
The deadline for Facebook to reply to the charge sheet expires on 31 January 2017.
