CMA Says Blocking Meta’s GIF Deal Protects UK Consumers

By Joanne Faulkner (April 26, 2023, 4:21 PM BST) — Britain’s antitrust watchdog told a tribunal on Tuesday that Meta’s acquisition of an online GIF creator removed a potential challenger in the U.K. advertising market as lawyers defended the decision to block the merger.A lawyer for the competition watchdog has said the $315 million deal to merge Giphy into Meta products such as WhatsApp removed a potential competitor in display advertising. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar) Counsel for the Competition and Markets Authority told the tribunal that the purchase of Giphy by Facebook’s parent company put an end to the development of rival technology.