The EU charged Facebook on Tuesday with providing "misleading" information when it sought approval for its blockbuster $19-billon buyout of the WhatsApp mobile messaging service.

"The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Facebook alleging the company provided incorrect or misleading information during the Commission's 2014 investigation" of the buyout, the EU's executive arm said in a statement. 

The commission said the EU's greenlight of the buyout, announced in October 2014, was not put back into question.