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).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed an application for Ukraine's membership in the European Union, pleading with the bloc to accept this request. It comes as Russian forces push further into Ukraine, forcing at least half a million refugees to flee. Benjamin Schmitt, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University and Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, breaks down the latest in Ukraine.
A growing wave of major U.S. companies have taken steps to cut ties with Russia or offer support to Ukraine, as tensions escalate in the region. Exxon, Apple and Boeing are just the latest companies to make the move, following the likes of Google, Meta and BP who have all announced plans to exit the region in response to the conflict. Courtney Vinopal, Breaking News Reporter, Quartz joined Cheddar's Opening Bell for more.
A hospital basement in Ukraine’s coastal city of Mariupol has transformed into a bomb shelter and maternity ward amid shelling during Russia’s invasion.
World leaders are currently dealing with a handful of pressing issues, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation, and not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic; but it could be argued that the most pressing issue is one that has experienced its fair share of neglect in the past -- climate change. As tensions escalate between Russia and Ukraine, there is fear the focus on climate will once again be pushed aside. However, the White House appears to be making some effort to prevent that from happening. The White House Office of Science and Technology held a first-of-its-kind roundtable discussion with some of the nation's leading climate scientists on Thursday. Michael Mann, Director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and author of the book 'The New Climate War' joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as one of the climate scientists at the White House event.
Scott Clemons, Partner and Chief Investment Strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses the factors leading to the sell-off on Wall Street today and explains why uncertainty is worse than bad news for the investors.
U.S. stocks rebounded to end higher on Thursday after President Biden announced new sanctions against Russia following the country's attack on Ukraine. The Dow was down 859 points at its lowest point of the session, before ultimately finishing the day in the green. Melissa Armo, founder and owner of the Stock Swoosh, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
People of African and Middle Eastern descent fleeing from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are facing the double trauma of racism at the borders. Professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco, Bill Hing, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss what some are describing as a double standard for other refugees escaping the war. "Those that are from the Middle East and from Africa who just happen to be in Ukraine, for example on a student visa, they are not going to be able to get into Poland or another area of the Schengen area because they are not natural Ukrainian," he said.
Add FIFA to the list of organizations announcing a break with Russia. The world soccer authority has suspended the nation from competing in the 2022 World Cup tournament, while the NHL also announced suspending business relations with Russia. Executive editor and senior writer at Sports Illustrated, Jon Wertheim, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rebukes. "I think a big element of this is, this is a way to really hit at Putin because we know how much this appearance of strength and the victory… often portrayed through sports, how much that means to him," he said. "This will bother him in a way that it might not bother other world leaders."
