The number of calls for investigations into Trump-linked Cambridge Analytica's illicit gathering of Facebook data grew on Sunday.
What they're saying: There are concerns over Cambridge Analytica, which did work for the Trump campaign, gathering the data on millions of Facebook users. And there are also worries that the social platform didn't handle the incident properly, prompting lawmakers to raise their voices over the past few days on both sides of the pond.
Facebook was caught flat-footed again Saturday as it scrambled to deal with stories in New York Times and Guardian-owned Observer about user data illicitly obtained by a Trump-linked data analytics firm, including accusations from the British paper that Facebook had threatened it with litigation.
Why it matters: The scandal is another example of Facebook blaming outdated policies and ignorance for its platform being abused by bad actors — while struggling to contain the public relations fallout. The company is also tangling with the media outlets reporting on it.
The data firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked with the Trump campaign leading up to the 2016 election, used personal information from 50 million Facebook profiles of U.S. voters to build a system to predict and influence choices at the polls, according to investigations from The New York Times and The Observer newspaper in Britain.
Why it matters: This is reportedly one of the largest instances ever of Facebook data being exposed. The social media giant, which is already grappling with mounting criticism over the dissemination of fake news and Russian propaganda to influence the 2016 presidential election on its platform, will certainly face more scrutiny.
Why it matters, per Axios' Kim Hart: Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics firm that worked with the Trump campaign leading up to the 2016 election, claimed to have developed personality profiles on every American — but it's unclear where that data came from. It has become a focus of both the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian election meddling and Robert Mueller’s probe.
