RS Prasad alleges 'Congress-Cambridge Analytica deal' over Facebook data breach

NewsBharati    21-Mar-2018
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New Delhi, March 21: Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has raised suspicions that Congress might have shared confidential data of Indian Facebook users with foreign firms to help its poll campaign similar to Cambridge Analytica.

"Will the Congress Party now depends upon data manipulation and data theft to win elections?" BJP leader asked while briefing media in New Delhi this afternoon. He said, the NDA government is committed to free and fair elections.

Ravi Shankar Prasad said, Cambridge Analytica, the agency roped in by Congress to run their 2019 campaign and termed as their Brahmastra in certain section of media, is accused of using bribes, sex workers to entrap politicians and stealing data from Facebook.

Prasad added that any data abuse will not be tolerated or permitted in India. The Minister made it clear that any covert or overt attempt to misuse social media including Facebook to influence country's electoral process through undesirable means will neither be tolerated nor be permitted.

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, analysing online user behaviour and connecting the dots across different citizen databases. However, there was no confirmation that Congress has signed any deal with the firm.

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.