SENSATIONAL: Facebook replies to Modi government about Cambridge Analytica. Here's what they said

In a massive development, top sources tell Republic World that social media giant Facebook’s top management responded to the Government of India’s notice on the Cambridge Analytica case at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. In its response, Facebook washed its hands off the global data leak scandal describing the British firm Cambridge Analytica as a rogue actor. Facebook also told the Modi government that they would not allow anyone to influence elections in the country.

Taking on Cambridge Analytica, which is accused of using personal data of Facebook users without their consent, the social media giant urged the Modi government to take action against them. 

Top sources also tell Republic World that Facebook will inform over half a million Indians that their information has been breached. This process of informing individual users will begin on Monday, 9th April 2018. 

SHOCKING | Personal Data Of About 87 Million Facebook Users Shared With Cambridge Analytica

This reply by Facebook comes in response to a show-cause notice which was issued by the Modi government on 28th March 2018. The Government had mandated that the social media giant reply by April 7th, while stating that "Facebook today has its largest footprint in India in terms of its user base and therefore what proactive measures are being taken to ensure the safety, security and privacy of such large user data and to prevent its misuse by any third party.” 

Now that Facebook has washed its hands off the matter, pressure will now build on the Modi government to act against Cambridge Analytica. 

Earlier, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg took personal responsibility for the data breach in his post. “I started Facebook, and at the end of the day I'm responsible for what happens on our platform. I'm serious about doing what it takes to protect our community. While this specific issue involving Cambridge Analytica should no longer happen with new apps today, that doesn't change what happened in the past. We will learn from this experience to secure our platform further and make our community safer for everyone going forward,” he posted.

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Cambridge Analytica had first come under-fire when an international news channel, Channel 4, had exposed how the firm was “influencing elections” world over by using personal data of Facebook users without their consent. A specific allegation was that the firm exploited personal data of Facebook users to influence votes in favour of Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Elections. 

After the scandal broke out, the India angle to the global scandal emerged after the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie told a British Parliamentary Committee that his former firm had worked with political parties. Wylie first named the Congress party in India as a “client” of Cambridge Analytica and then tweeted out multiple documents that allege links between the controversial global data firm and Indian political parties.