With Decision on Facebook’s WhatsApp Acquisition Due Oct. 3, EC Sends Out Detailed Questionnaires

The European Commission, the antitrust authority of the European Union, will decide on Facebook’s proposed acquisition of cross-platform messaging service WhatsApp by Oct. 3, and the EC will do so armed with detailed information from questionnaires sent to companies including telecommunications operators, other social-networking sites and Internet-service providers, The Wall Street Journal reported.

EuropeanUnionFlags650The European Commission, the antitrust authority of the European Union, will decide on Facebook’s proposed acquisition of cross-platform messaging service WhatsApp by Oct. 3, and the EC will do so armed with detailed information from questionnaires sent to companies including telecommunications operators, other social-networking sites and Internet-service providers, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The EC sent questionnaires to online messaging companies in July, seeking information on the impact of the merger on competition in those competitors’ markets, as well as how their services control and use personal data, the Journal reported at the time, but the second round of questionnaires is far more detailed, according to the Journal, which added that the EC is trying to determine the differences between social networks and messaging applications.

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