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June 12 (UPI) -- British regulators said Friday they're investigating Facebook's purchase last month of the image website Giphy to see if there are any antitrust concerns. The Competition and Markets Authority said it's examining the acquisition and ordered Facebook to temporarily halt integrating the popular GIF image site into its Instagram platform.
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The watchdog said it's considering whether the acquisition may expect to "result in a substantial lessening of competition."
"The CMA has decided to investigate this transaction and is inviting comments and has made an initial enforcement order," it added.
The comment period will end July 3.
The CMA previously investigated Facebook when it bought WhatsApp for $19 billion, but eventually approved the deal.
Although Facebook and Giphy are both U.S. based companies, the CMA can investigate mergers that impact 25 percent of any "reasonable" market. The watchdog also investigated Amazon's $575 million investment in food delivery service Deliveroo last year.
Facebook announced last month it would acquire Giphy to be part of its Instagram team.
