Facebook has been charged with misleading EU regulators over its $19bn (£15.4bn) takeover of WhatsApp, an accusation that could land the company with a multi-million dollar fine.

The European Commission said Facebook's recent move to combine WhatsApp data with the social network breached assurances it had made when the deal was approved in 2014.

The charge - which can ultimately lead to a fine of 1 per cent of Facebook's global turnover, or around $180m - adds to the backlash after the controversial decision it took this summer to share data between Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.

The move, which links WhatsApp information such as phone numbers to individual Facebook accounts, also generated an angry response from privacy activists and various domestic regulators.