Giphy denies pulling down Mark Zuckerberg GIFs after Facebook acquisition, launches probe

Giphy has denied reports about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking the online search engine for GIF files to remove his clips from its database after the tech giant bought the company. Facebook on May 15 announced that Giphy is joining its ecosystem as part of the Instagram team, following which theories emerged online suggesting that Mark Zuckerberg has demanded the Giphy team to remove GIFs of him from their platform. 

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Tyler Menzel, Head of Content and Editorial at Giphy, took to Twitter on Friday to dismiss all the theories hovering online and said that Facebook CEO has made no such demands. Tyler said that they only take down contents that violate their guidelines and added that if any such content has been taken down, he will look into it confirming that the platform has not intentionally done it. 

"Hearing reports that we are taking down GIFs, specifically of Mark Zuckerberg. Want to clarify that this is not true as we only take down content that violates our guidelines. We are looking into the issue immediately, but can confirm we have not intentionally taken anything down," Tyler said in his post.

Read: Facebook Acquires GIF-sharing Platform Giphy, To Integrate It With Instagram

Facebook-Giphy deal

As per reports, Facebook and Giphy have signed a deal worth $400 million. Following the deal, Facebook on its website said, "A lot of people in our community already know and love GIPHY. In fact, 50% of GIPHY’s traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps, half of that from Instagram alone. By bringing Instagram and GIPHY together, we can make it easier for people to find the perfect GIFs and stickers in Stories and Direct. Both our services are big supporters of the creator and artist community, and that will continue. Together, we can make it easier for anyone to create and share their work with the world."

The Giphy group had announced the deal on Twitter.

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Facebook said that the company has been using Giphy’s API for years, not just on Instagram, but in the Facebook app, Messenger, and WhatsApp. Facebook confirmed people will still be able to upload GIFs, while developers and API partners will continue to have the same access to GIPHY's APIs. Facebook also said that GIPHY’s creative community will still be able to create content without interruption or interference.

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