- Facebook Admits They Were In The Wrong, Cambridge Analytica ScandalÂ
Even CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the Cambridge Analytica scandal was a a major breach of trust”. The company realized that it needed to raise the standard for user information safety. After all, user information is what really gives the company their value, because so much of their revenue comes from targeted ads. When looking at the company’s balance sheet, their truly is a lack of diversity in terms of revenue streams.
For those unaware, Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, unethically bought user data from Facebook during the 2016 election in order to influence the US election and the UK’s vote on leaving the EU.
The company has taken out full page ads to apologize and strongly argues that they are putting user safety as a top priority.
In a statement, Zuckerberg denounced, “…IT’S CLEAR NOW THAT WE DIDN’T DO ENOUGH TO PREVENT THESE TOOLS FROM BEING USED FOR HARM AS WELL. THAT GOES FOR FAKE NEWS, FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS, AND HATE SPEECH, AS WELL AS DEVELOPERS AND DATA PRIVACY. WE DIDN’T TAKE A BROAD ENOUGH VIEW OF OUR RESPONSIBILITY, AND THAT WAS A BIG MISTAKE. IT WAS MY MISTAKE, AND I’M SORRY. I STARTED FACEBOOK, I RUN IT, AND I’M RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENS HERE.”
