EC Alleges Facebook Provided 'Misleading Information' in 2014 WhatsApp Takeover

Facebook provided "incorrect or misleading information" about its planned acquisition of WhatsApp during the European Commission review of the 2014 takeover, alleged the EC. It sent a statement of objections to the social media platform, said a Tuesday news release. If the allegations are confirmed, the EC said it could impose a fine up to 1 percent of Facebook's revenue, but the current investigation won't affect the acquisition of WhatsApp since approval was based on a variety of factors. A coalition of consumer and privacy groups in September asked the FTC to investigate WhatsApp's privacy policy changes that would permit the sharing of some user information with Facebook, which the groups allege is a violation of the commitments made by the companies when they combined (see 1609220031). The EC said Facebook indicated in 2014 that "it would be unable to establish reliable automated matching between the two companies' user accounts." The EC said it "takes the preliminary view" that it was technically possible in 2014 to automatically match users' IDs of both companies, despite what Facebook said. "The Commission therefore has concerns that Facebook intentionally, or negligently, submitted incorrect or misleading information to the Commission, in breach of its obligations under the EU Merger Regulation," the release said. Facebook will have until Jan. 31 to respond to the EC. In an online statement, the company said it's "confident that a full review of the facts will confirm Facebook has acted in good faith" and has "consistently provided accurate information about our technical capabilities and plans."