LONDON: Facebook has made a case for not selling Giphy in a strongly worded letter to a British regulator and questioned the watchdog’s recent call to divest the GIF website over competition concerns.
Facebook argued that “the inability of the CMA (the UK Competition and Markets Authority) to issue any order against Giphy raises serious questions as to the enforceability of any divestment order and whether any such order could be effective,” in its letter that CMA published online on Wednesday.
The CMA last month hinted that Facebook, the world’s largest social media company, might need to sell Giphy based on its preliminary findings that the deal would hurt the display advertising market and other social media networks.
Facebook bought Giphy, a website for making and sharing animated images, or GIFs, last year to integrate it with its photo-sharing app, Instagram. The deal, pegged at $400 million by news website Axios, was being probed by the CMA since January.
Facebook in its letter said the CMA’s provisional findings had “fundamental errors,” and the British regulator had failed to provide alternative remedies that would have been “far less intrusive and equally effective” for it to clear the deal.
California-based Facebook declined to comment further and the CMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Facebook questions British watchdog’s authority to order Giphy sale
https://arab.news/5jh44
Facebook questions British watchdog’s authority to order Giphy sale
- Facebook has made a case for not selling Giphy and questioned the watchdog’s recent call to divest the GIF website over competition concern
Arab News wins 7 prizes at European Newspaper Awards, led by 50th anniversary coverage
- Anniversary special coverage and film won four Awards of Excellence across multiple categories
LONDON: Arab News won seven prizes at the 27th European Newspaper Awards — four for its 50th anniversary coverage and three for other projects — bringing its total to 160 awards since the 2018 relaunch.
The anniversary coverage earned an Award of Excellence in “Supplement for special occasions and anniversary editions,” plus wins in “Multimedia storytelling” for its special web section and two in “Film” and “Animated films” for its documentary.
Additional honors went to the “Spotlight — 2024 in Review” and “Opinion — 2024” print series in the “Sectional front pages nationwide newspaper” category, and a “Visualization” prize for an image from “Opinion — 2024.”
Launched in 1999 by organizer Norbert Kupper, the awards celebrate print and digital innovation. This year’s contest drew newspapers from 22 countries and more than 3,000 entries across 20 categories, despite fewer print submissions due to rising editorial collaborations.
“It’s testament to the skill, versatility and collaboration between the creative and editorial teams at Arab News that the seven awards at this year’s ENAs spanned print, digital and film categories,” commented Omar Nashashibi, head of creative design at Arab News. “These wouldn’t be possible without the world-class contributors we partner with, and the leadership, vision and support of Editor-In-Chief Faisal J. Abbas.”
Creative Director Simon Khalil called the film wins especially meaningful. “This recognition means a great deal because this film was never just about marking an anniversary, it was about capturing a defining moment in the evolution of Arab News and the region it represents.
“Telling the story, and drama of the 2018 relaunch, the digital transformation, and the courage to become ‘The Voice of a Changing Region’ was both a responsibility and a privilege.”
Past highlights include the “King Charles III Coronation” special coverage, “Kingdom vs. Captagon” investigation and FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022 special edition.
See more award-winning projects at arabnews.com/greatesthits.
