The UK Competition and Markets Authority fined Facebook £50.5 million in October 2021 for breaching an order imposed during its Giphy merger investigation. The fine was about Facebook’s conduct while regulators reviewed the deal, not a final ruling on whether GIFs were a monopoly.
For a company Facebook’s size, the amount alone wasn’t the point. A merger review only works if the buyer keeps the businesses separate and gives regulators the information they request. Facebook acted as though those conditions were optional. That is the part worth watching.