Facebook Fined for Misleading the European Commission
Facebook (FB) has been fined €110 million ($122.5 million) by the European Commission for providing misleading information related to its 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp.
The Executive's Competition Commission said Facebook insisted on two separate occasions that it could not establish a reliable automated match between user accounts of both platforms. However, a subsequent update to the company's terms-of-service and privacy policy indicated such a link was possible.
"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," said Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. "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."
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This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.
