Facebook owner Meta to sell Giphy after UK watchdog confirms ruling

CMA says takeover of gif creation website limits choice for social media users

Facebook's parent company, Meta, has been ordered by the UK competition watchdog to sell the gif creation website Giphy, the first time the regulator has blocked a deal struck by a big Silicon Valley company.

The Competition and Markets Authority told Meta in November that the only way to resolve competition concerns was to dispose of Giphy, the largest supplier of animated gifs to social networks such as Snapchat, TikTok and Twitter, which it acquired two years ago for $400m (290m).