European Commission obliged Facebook to pay a €110 mln fine. Ther reason for this austere measure is Facebook’s misleading information during 2014 deal, as a result of which company purchased WhatsApp.

In its turn, European Commission called this fine and adequate restraining measure. A review of 2014 Facebook-WhatsApp deal revealed that social network giant claimed that it has no technical capabilities of merging users’ accounts on both platforms into one. However, personal data of WhatsApp users was manipulated this way. In 2016, WhatsApp offered its users to tie their mobile phone numbers to a Facebook account.

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “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. 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,  Facebook wholeheartedly admits “unintended mistakes” in documentation. Yet, it does not impede Facebook’s plans of merging users’ data anyway.