E.U. slams Facebook with $122 Million fine over misleading information

The European Commission has fined Facebook €110 million ($122 million) for “providing incorrect or misleading information” about its 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp.

In a press release published on Thursday, the Commission said that the social media company misinformed European regulators when it said that it would be unable to link the profiles of users on WhatsApp and Facebook. 

In 2016 WhatsApp announced that it would begin sharing some user data, including phone numbers, with Facebook. In its decision, the Commission said that “the technical possibility of automatically matching Facebook and WhatsApp users' identities already existed in 2014, and that Facebook staff were aware of such a possibility.”

Calling it a "proportionate and deterrent fine", the European Commission, which acts as the EU's competition watchdog, said Facebook had said it could not automatically match user accounts on its namesake platform and WhatsApp but two years later launched a service that did exactly that.

"The Commission has found that, contrary to Facebook's statements in the 2014 merger review process, the technical possibility of automatically matching Facebook and WhatsApp users' identities already existed in 2014, and that Facebook staff were aware of such a possibility," the Commission said.

The decision announced on Thursday will not have any impact on the Commission’s decision to authorize the acquisition, and it is not related to separate data protection investigations that are currently underway, the EC said in its press release.

"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,” Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. “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."

In response to the fine, Facebook issued a statement published to its website on Thursday, where it said it “acted in good faith” during its interactions with the European Commission, and that it “sought to provide accurate information at every turn.” 

“The errors we made in our 2014 filings were not intentional and the Commission has confirmed that they did not impact the outcome of the merger review,” the statement reads.

“Today’s announcement brings this matter to a close, ” it added.

The social network acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for $22 billion.