Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg takes responsibility of Cambridge Analytica scandal; says ‘Sorry’ to US Congress

NewsBharati    10-Apr-2018
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Washington, April 10: Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg on Monday accepted the full responsibility of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and apologized to the US Congress for not doing enough to protect users personal data.

 

Notably, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted mistakes and outlined steps to protect user data in light of a privacy scandal involving data-mining firm, Cambridge Analytica hours after Indian IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad raised suspicions of data breaching.

During his first Congressional appearance, Mark Zuckerberg accepted responsibility for the Facebook’s failure to protect private data of its 87 million users and prevent manipulation of the platform. He said, "We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I'm sorry."

In his written testimony released by a House of Representatives panel, Zuckerberg said, "I started Facebook, I run it, and I'm responsible for what happens here." "It's clear now that we didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech," Zuckerberg added.

Earlier, in the month of March, Indian IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad raised suspicions that Congress has a tie-up with Cambridge Analytica which have allegedly shared confidential data of Facebook users to help in the poll campaign. While advising Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to pay attention to India's IT minister's warning, Union Minister asked Congress President Rahul Gandhi to explain the role of Cambridge Analytica in his social media profile.

Cambridge Analytica met with Congress leader in last August to present a plan to help Congress win 2019 general elections through a data-driven strategy to target voters on social media, analyzing online user behaviour and connecting the dots across different citizen databases.

Hours after Ravi Shankar Prasad’s press conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted mistakes and outlined steps to protect user data in light of a privacy scandal involving data-mining firm, Cambridge Analytica.

Days after, the Trump administration confirmed that Facebook is under stringent investigation into its privacy practices, amidst allegations that its connection with British company Cambridge Analytica resulted in misuse of personal data of some 50 million users.

Cambridge Analytica was created in 2013 to participate in American politics. It is an offshoot of British firm Strategic Communication Laboratories, which provides data, analytics and strategy to governments and military organizations worldwide. Some of its key campaigns include 2016 US Presidential elections for Donald Trump and Leave EU campaign in the very early stages of its Brexit campaign.