LONDON (Reuters] -The UK competition regulator has fined Meta 1.5m pounds ($2,000,000) to Facebook owner Meta for new concerns regarding the purchase Giphy. The sanction was accepted by the U.S. firm.

The Competition and Markets Authority of Britain (CMA), which investigates the dominance in digital advertising markets and seeks to stop the Facebook-Giphy agreement, has been tough with tech companies over recent years.

After deciding that the U.S. remedies did not address its concerns about the effects of digital advertising, the CMA directed Meta to buy animated image platform Giphy. It was acquired by Meta for $400 million in May 2020.

According to it, Meta did not comply with some aspects of the requirements for Giphy’s handling. This was due to Meta failing to inform the UK regulator about the departure of important staff members.

CMA said this was a “serious” and especially flagrant violation of Meta’s rules. The CMA had set these rules to protect the competition between the two companies and to prevent them from integrating while it investigated the deal.

The U.S.’s tech giant, Google, announced Friday that it was acquiring UK regulatory authority.

CMA sanctioned Facebook (NASDAQ 🙂 50.5million pounds for other violations in October 2013 and ordered Meta sell Giphy. Meta appeals the decision to sell. The CMA issued a new fine that it said it would not accept, but it will pay.

The company stated that they could not stop employees from leaving.

A spokesperson stated that while we intend to pay the penalty, it was problematic for the CMA to make decisions that would directly affect the rights of U.S. workers protected by U.S. laws.