War of words between Congress and BJP.
Congress on Wednesday strongly denied allegation of having any links with data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica accused of stealing Facebook information of 5 crore users. Head of Congress social media and digital communications, Divya Spandana aka Ramya outrightly denied allegation levelled by Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Prasad alleged that Congress party had links with Cambridge Analytica. "My question to Congress party is whether to win elections, Congress will depend on data manipulation and theft of data," he said. "What is the role of Cambridge Analytica in social media profile of Rahul Gandhi," he asked.
He alleged that Cambridge Analytica, the agency roped in by Congress to run their 2019 campaign and termed as their 'Brahmastra' in certain section of media, is accused of using bribes, sex workers to entrap politicians and stealing data from Facebook. In series of tweets Divya said, "
Divya accused that BJP is raising these issues to divert attention from death of 39 Indians in Iraq. She vehemently denied news articles which suggest that Congress is a client of Cambridge Analytics, and uses its service to improve their social media strategy.
Government today warned social media platforms like Facebook of 'strong action' if any attempt was made by them to influence the country's electoral process through undesirable means.
Amid probe by US privacy watchdog over a potential breach of user confidentiality by Facebook, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government fully supports freedom of press, speech and expression and is for exchange of ideas on social media. But any attempt by social media sites, including Facebook, to influence India's electoral process through undesirable means will not be tolerated, he told reporters in Parliament House complex.
"If need be, strong action will be taken," he said. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), an independent government body charged with insuring that companies abide by their own privacy policies, is looking at whether Facebook violated a 2011 consent decree after media reports alleged that it had handed the data of millions of users to a political consultancy. Reports had alleged that Cambridge Analytica used data mined from Facebook in the voter research it conducted for President Donald Trump during the 2016 elections campaign.
With PTI inputs
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