The Cambridge Analytica
whistleblower over the use of Facebook generated data, Christopher Wylie has revealed that Nigeria may have benefited from their services during the 2015 general elections, reports ITRealms.
Speaking to Hola Gorani Tonight on Cable
News Network (CNN) monitored in Lagos by ITRealms on Monday night, Wylie said the Facebook
data collected from unsuspecting users have been used to influence elections in
various countries of the world including Nigeria and United States of America.
ITRealms gathered that following Wylie exposure of
Facebook role in the data controversy rocking both United Kingdom and America,
his Facebook account has been suspended.
"Suspended by
Facebook. For blowing the whistle. On something they have known privately for
two years," Wylie tweeted on Sunday. Just as his account on Instagram,
which is also owned by Facebook, had also been suspended.
Facebook equally said it
would be conducting its review without Wylie's help.
Responding to why
suspending Wylie’s accounts, a lawyer at Facebook, Paul Grewal, said, "Mr.
Wylie has refused to cooperate with us until we lift the suspension on his
account,
He told CNN on Sunday
that "Given he said he 'exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people's
profiles,' we cannot do this (lift suspension) at this time."
ITRealms recalls that this has been the
latest twist in a complicated story that has played out over the last few days
via statements from Facebook (FB),
an investigative report by The New York Times and London's The Observer, and revelations from the people involved.
Wylie was a data analyst
for Cambridge Analytica, the controversial data firm that worked for President
Donald Trump's campaign. He shared evidence of the company's activities with
the two newspapers, as well as reportedly with cybercrime investigators in the
United Kingdom. Over the weekend, he also spoke on British television about how
the company was reportedly able to harvest data from 50 million Facebook
profiles.
Wylie
told UK’s Channel 4 at the weekend, that getting those data "allowed us to move into the hearts and
minds of American voters in a way that had never been done before."
In addition, Facebook also
suspended Cambridge Analytica from its platform on last Friday, saying in
a blog post that the company had learned in 2015 that
user data was shared with a political data group in violation of Facebook's
terms. Facebook said they received certifications at the time that all copies
of the data had been destroyed.
In a statement,
Cambridge Analytica maintained "that all Facebook data and their
derivatives" was deleted. It also says it did not use any of that data in
its work for Trump's campaign.
According to the CNN, the
revelations prompted renewed scrutiny of how Facebook was used to reach and
influence voters ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.
Under fire from
politicians in the United States and the United Kingdom, Facebook said on
Sunday afternoon it was conducting an internal and external review to determine
if Facebook data provided to Cambridge Analytica still existed.
The New York Times
reported that Cambridge Analytica still possesses most or all of the data,
according to interviews with a half-dozen former employees and contractors.
Facebook acknowledged
in the blog post it has "received reports that,
contrary to the certifications we were given, not all data was deleted."
The UK's Information
Commissioner's Office said in a new statement on Monday that it was
investigating the use of Facebook data by Cambridge Analytica.
Chuks Egbune/GEE
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