*By Conor White*
With the Cambridge Analytica scandal barely behind it, Facebook is suspending another data firm for its use of user data.
The company is investigating Boston-based Crimson Hexagon for possible ties to a Kremlin-linked Russian nonprofit and the U.S. government.
But Michael Nuñez, Deputy Tech Editor for Mashable, [thinks there's an important public-private distinction.](https://mashable.com/2018/07/20/facebook-suspends-crimson-hexagon/)
"In this case, what \[Crimson Hexagon\] has done is actually take public posts, so this is stuff that people had allowed the public to have access to."
As Nuñez noted, Crimson Hexagon hasn't violated any of Facebook's rules, per se. Cambridge Analytica, on the other hand, was dumped after [extracting](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/26/cambridge-analytica-trump-campaign-us-election-laws) private user data and allegedly violating U.S. law by unfairly influencing the 2014 and 2016 election cycles.
But Nuñez warned, this could be just the beginning.
"I question whether \[Facebook\] has any grip on how many companies are out there like this," he said. "The tricky part about this is once the data leaves Facebook's platform, once a company siphons this off of Facebook using their API, then it's really hard for Facebook to know where that data is going."
Despite the latest news, Nuñez said it will take a lot more bad news to cripple the resilient social media giant.
"The trove of data is still there, they still have two billion users that any advertiser can access at any point, so I think it's going to take a lot to derail the company," he said.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal broke late in the first quarter, so had limited impact on the company's last earnings report. Facebook releases second quarter results on Wednesday.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-suspends-another-data-firm).
The saga surrounding Elon Musk's bid to buy Twitter has made its way to Washington, DC. A group of 18 House Republicans are calling on the social media platform's board to preserve all records and documents related to the company's response to the offer from the Tesla CEO. Caleb Silver, editor in chief of Investopedia, joined Closing Bell to discuss. "This is a long term play, but it's just a shot across the bow by congressional Republicans, who probably will end up taking the House, that they're going to be tough on Big Tech and they're going use Musk's bid for twitter to take it private, so that he can get the platform to be open source and remove its censorship."
Removing carbon from our atmosphere has become a goal for scientists and entrepreneurs around the world, and while many have begun to develop promising technology solutions, a few big names in tech, including Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta and McKinsey, are committing nearly $1 billion dollars to fund carbon removal technology through 2030 through a new initiative called Frontier, an advanced market commitment to incentive following through on development. Hannah Bebbington, the head of strategy for Frontier, joined Cheddar News to discuss. "What Frontier aims to do is help get this market on track by sending that strong demand signal such that we can scale up capacity really significantly in the next couple of years," she said.
Jonah Goldman, the managing director at Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy, joined Cheddar News to talk about the promising growth in the climate change-conscious investments the organization has made over the years. ”I mean when we're looking at some of the hard to abate technologies and cement and steel and aviation fuel, all of those have promising pathways that weren't there again just a few years ago," he said. "We invest across all of the technology areas that are driving emissions, greenhouse gas emissions and there really are exciting products and technologies coming out in almost every one of those sectors.”
Cheddar's J.D. Durkin caught up with the head of NASA Bill Nelson, a former senator, who feels one thing that seems less rancorous on Capitol Hill these days is the work of the space agency.
As the newly formed Amazon Labor Union gets ready to come to terms with the e-commerce giant, the issue of workplace safety and pace-of-work issues remains contentious and complex. Cheddar's Alex Vuocolo reports.
As musical numbers keep springing up on TikTok Cheddar's Michelle Castillo talks to the cast and crew behind "For You, Paige," the platform's first-ever commissioned musical play.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 22, 2022, with updates on a new Ukraine aid package, a new missile test by Russia, DOJ announcement of $150 Million in COVID-related fraud, the Florida senate supports Gov. DeSantis in stripping Disney of its special tax district, and more.