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Facebook Under Pressure as EU, US Urge Probes of Data Practices (reuters.com)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced calls on Monday from U.S. and European lawmakers to explain how a consultancy that worked on President Donald Trump's election campaign gained access to data on 50 million Facebook users. From a report: Facebook's shares fell more than 7 percent, wiping around $40 billion off its market value, set for their biggest drop since September 2012, as investors worried that new legislation could damage the company's lucrative advertising business. "The lid is being opened on the black box of Facebook's data practices, and the picture is not pretty," said Frank Pasquale, a University of Maryland law professor who has written about Silicon Valley's use of data. Lawmakers in the United States, Britain and Europe have called for investigations into media reports that political analytics firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested the private data on more than 50 million Facebook users to support Trump's 2016 presidential election campaign. Further reading: An undercover investigation by Channel 4 News reveals how Cambridge Analytica secretly campaigns in elections across the world. Bosses were filmed talking about using bribes, ex-spies, fake IDs and sex workers.
What did anyone think Facebook was ? Its a MASSIVE data gathering/mining platform that will sell that information to whom ever offers them enough money.
That is the entire purpose of a propaganda campaign. They've already moved on to the next piece of propaganda before the last one can be refuted.
This just came across the transom. Apparently, Cambridge Analytica was doing more than just data mining for the Trump campaign.
https://boingboing.net/2018/03...
https://www.channel4.com/news/...
You are welcome on my lawn.
From the Channel 4 link.
If you wanted to say malfeasance, fraud, bribery, perversion of office, and being a prick, I'd be right with you, but the constitution defines treason, and until Russia is defined as an official enemy then treason isn't even possible.
Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
There's no particular sign that this particular piece of information *can* honestly be refuted. If you have reason to believe otherwise, I'd like to know what it is.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
Better to be the kingmaker than the king, and if you control the information that the kingmaker's need ...
Cambridge Analytics are dead. They were only effective whilst they remained hidden. They may well restructure, fold or shift assets, but by the time they are back someone else will be sucking from Facebook's teat and all the while Facebook can say 'It wasn't us who meddled'.
It's almost beyond political power. Win or lose, all parties end up using Facebook data.
Something about 'the spice must flow' and 'he who controls the spice ...'
When the Obama campaign does it, it's a great victory with friends, but when Trump's campaign does it, it's a crime. Have you ever looked in the mirror and saw a dirty racist? You should try mirrors.
1). They're not _quite_ the same; afaik, the Obama campaign used social media to target people with advertising, but the Trump campaign appears to have used it to deliberately subvert the demographic process by feeding targets with fake news,
2). You recall that the Republicans were not exactly keen on Trump either? So some how he managed to defeat all the other Republican candidates (likely using same techniques), and now the result is?.... likely pretty bad for the entire Republican party for at least one term, but quite possibly many.
This is good for no one, regardless of which way you lean. So unless your political outlook is 100% Trump or nothing, then you should really be happy this abuse of democracy is being exposed.
Am I mistaken, or wasn’t Peter Thiel on the Facebook board or actualy in the Facebook C-Suite and also involved with Cambridge Analytica? The whole thing was an inside job. Could anyone get away with this sort of thing without Facebook management’s consent?