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EU accuses Facebook of ‘misleading information’ during WhatsApp buy
Facebook Inc. is no stranger to scrutiny in the European Union, and now it looks like the social network may once again be caught in the crosshairs of the European Commission.
This week, the regulator accused Facebook of providing “incorrect or misleading information” to EU investigators during its $19 billion purchase of popular chat app WhatsApp in 2014. Specifically, the Commission said in a Statement of Objections that “contrary to Facebook’s statements and reply during the merger review, the technical possibility of automatically matching Facebook users’ IDs with WhatsApp users’ IDs already existed in 2014.”
According to the commission, the claims against Facebook will not affect the WhatsApp acquisition itself, but if the company is ultimately found guilty of providing false information, it could face a fine of up to 1 percent of its worldwide revenue. Based on Facebook’s 2015 revenue, that fine could be in the neighborhood of $179 million.
A spokesperson for the European Commission noted that the Statement of Objections is not a final ruling against Facebook, and the company still has until the end of January to formally respond to the accusations.
A Facebook spokesperson has denied the Commission’s claims, saying that the company did nothing to mislead investigators during the WhatsApp acquisition. “We respect the Commission’s process and are confident that a full review of the facts will confirm Facebook has acted in good faith,” the spokesperson told Reuters. “We’ve consistently provided accurate information about our technical capabilities and plans, including in submissions about the WhatsApp acquisition and in voluntary briefings before WhatsApp’s privacy policy update this year.”
In addition to the European Commission’s latest complaint, Facebook is also still dealing with a number of other legal troubles in the EU, most of which relate to its privacy policies. For example, Facebook’s handling of WhatsApp user data has been the subject of investigation, and the company recently agreed to stop sharing WhatsApp user information with its other services.
Photo credit: microsiervos via photopin (license)
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