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UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined Facebook for $ 70 million for evading providing additional information as part of the regulator’s review of the transaction to purchase the Giphy service.
The British Antimonopoly Office noted that a prescription was sent to Facebook in June 2020. It obliged the American company to maintain the competition with Giphy, which existed before their merger. The regulation also requires Facebook to regularly provide the CMA with regulatory compliance information.
Despite repeated warnings, the American corporation “significantly limited the volume” of its reports, the regulator emphasizes. The report says this is the first time a company has deliberately violated a supervisor’s order by refusing to provide all the information it needs.
“Given the numerous warnings made by Facebook, the CMA believes that Facebook’s failure to fulfill its obligations was deliberate,” the department said.
“We have warned Facebook that the refusal to provide us with important information is a violation of order. But even after two different courts rejected the appeal, Facebook continued to evade legal obligations, ”said Joel Bamford, senior director of mergers at CMA.
The company received two fines (for ignoring requests for information and for replacing its chief compliance manager without the prior consent of the CMA) totaling $ 69.6 million. that she is above the law. “
Facebook said it “strongly disagrees with the unfair decision of the CMA,” transfers Reuters.
The American social network bought the platform for creating and sharing GIFs Giphy in May 2020. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed, but the sources of the Axios publication said about $ 400 million. Facebook planned to integrate the service with the controlled social network Instagram, but just a month later this process was stopped due to the British regulator checking the transaction for compliance with antitrust requirements. write “Vedomosti”.
It also became known on Tuesday that the US Department of Justice fined Facebook on allegations of discriminatory hiring policies.
“Facebook is not above the law, it must comply with our country’s civil laws, which prohibit discriminatory recruiting and recruiting practices,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Kristen Clark.
As specified in the department, the Internet giant will pay a fine of $ 4.75 million to the US treasury, and Facebook will send another $ 9.5 million to affected applicants as compensation.
According to the Ministry of Justice, from January 2018 to September 2019, Facebook has reserved more than 2,600 vacancies for highly qualified foreign professionals with a nonimmigrant visa. The company asked for a permanent residence permit in the United States.
The online platform did not publish a list of vacancies on its website, only accepted printed job applications, and refused to hire US citizens, preferring foreigners with H-1B visas for highly skilled professionals. The annual income in these positions was approximately $ 156 thousand, writes DW.
The Department of Justice regarded this policy of the concern as discriminatory against US citizens.
American IT companies, including Facebook, rely heavily on foreign specialists who can enter the country, including on an H-1B visa. However, the maximum length of stay in the United States on such a visa is six years. To obtain a permanent residence permit – a green card – foreigners need a permanent job offer. In this case, the employer must prove that there were no suitable candidates from the United States for the relevant position.
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