Facebook fined $122 million for 'misleading' European Union over WhatsApp takeover

Social networking giant Facebook has been slapped with a fine of $122 million by European Union (EU) commission  for providing "misleading" information to the EU about its takeover of WhatsApp. The incident has again raised the debate on Facebook's ongoing data privacy troubles.

Facebook was reportedly found to have knowingly disclosed incorrect information about the possibility of merging Facebook and WhatsApp user identities. Facebook acquired popular messaging application WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014.

"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," Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said in a statement.

The EU commissioner said that the fine placed on Facebook was a "proportionate and deterrent" warning" that decision associated with mergers must be made "in full knowledge and accurate facts." The commission however did not reverse its decision to approve the takeover.

Facebook had told the EU commission that it would not be able to match Facebook users' accounts and WhatsApp users' accounts in a reliable manner. However, this information proved to be false when WhatsApp updated its terms and service privacy policy in August 2016. The WhatsApp update included the possibility of connecting its users' phone numbers with Facebook users' identities.

Facebook however responded to the fine claiming that the errors were not intentional, according to the New York Times.

"The commission has confirmed that they did not impact the outcome of the merger review," Facebook in a statement said.