Cambridge Analytica CEO Suspended, and the FTC Probes Facebook
Cambridge Analytica suspended its CEO Alexander Nix Tuesday after an undercover recording showed him bragging about illegally influencing political campaigns.
The firm was already under fire for its role in the Facebook data scandal. Many of that company’s top executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have stayed silent the last few days and even skipped out on a company-wide meeting Tuesday.
These two strands together indicate potential turmoil at the top of both companies, according to Jesse Byrnes, Associate Editor of The Hill.
“I think we’re seeing the gravity of the issue playing out now,” he told Cheddar. “We’re seeing lawmakers...calling for the top executives to make public appearances and to be answering questions.”
Late last week, news broke that data company Cambridge Analytica had used Facebook to collect data on millions of Americans without their permission. It then used that information to create personality profiles which were allegedly passed on to President Donald Trump’s campaign team before the 2016 election.
Its transgressions may have surpassed that -- in a video from Britain’s Channel 4 news, Nix talked about entrapping politicians with sex workers and his willingness to take bribes. The exec further boasted about the company’s role in electing Trump.
Also on Tuesday, Facebook came into the crosshairs of the Federal Trade Commission, which launched a probe into how the social media company used data from Cambridge.
“[They’re] going to be interested to see if Facebook allowed Cambridge Analytica to access this information and...whether they were at least knowledgeable about this,” said Byrnes.
Facebook said in a statement that in 2015 it asked Cambridge Analytica to delete all the data it had collected. It denied it knew Cambridge ignored that request and so suspended the company from its platform.
Not only does this controversy add to questions about Facebook’s privacy and data protection policies, it’s also given rise to the #DeleteFacebook campaign, which some say could eventually gain traction.
“I think people are going to reach a moment where the straw kind of breaks the camel’s back,” said Damon Beres, Executive Editor at Mashable. “We’ve been hearing so much about all these bad things that are happening because of Facebook...I would not be surprised if eventually people say enough is enough.”
Investors may be nearing that breaking point too. Facebook’s stock continued its downward trajectory on Tuesday, slipping another 2.5 percent after Monday’s near seven percent drop.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-under-fire-what-the-u-s-could-learn-from-the-eu).
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Simon Shuster, TIME's Moscow correspondent joins Cheddar to discuss how Ukraine could become part of the EU and what it would mean for politics in Europe.
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It comes at a time when international travel was set to make a comeback, but uncertainty surrounding the conflict may delay the overall recovery. Francesca Page, Travel Expert, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
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Chris Natividad, CIO of EquBot, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he elaborates on what ultimately dragged the Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq lower on Tuesday and discusses how investors are reacting to rising oil prices and February CPI data coming out later this week.
Adam Johnson, Portfolio Manager at Adviser Investments, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why he believes we saw markets jump during Wednesday's session, and adds that investors have already priced in 'every possible kind of bad news we could have.'
Jennifer Klein, the White House Gender Policy Council's co-chair and executive director, spoke to Cheddar News about the economic impact of the pandemic showing the need for a group like the Gender Policy Council, and the need to address issues that have affected women the most,
