Citing news reports, BJP spokesperson and IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday accused the Congress of having links with the ‘disgraced’ data firm, Cambridge Analytica.
Prasad alleged that the Congress resorted to data theft and data manipulation to win elections and questioned the role of the Cambridge Analytica in the social media management of Congress and party president Rahul Gandhi.
“Will the Congress Party now depend upon data manipulation and data theft to win elections?” he asked. Citing media reports, Prasad said bots were used to “artificially increase” the social media following of Rahul Gandhi.
He said Congress was posing a threat to the credibility of democratic values of the country.
Meanwhile, Prasad 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.
How much data of Indians have the Congress Party shared with foreign firms like Cambridge Analytica? Asks @rsprasad
— RSPrasad Office (@OfficeOfRSP) March 21, 2018
Amid probe by US privacy watchdog over a potential breach of user confidentiality by Facebook, 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.
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.
The BJP also accused the Congress of roping in an agency that was accused of using bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians and stealing Facebook data.
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 : Shri @rsprasad
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 21, 2018
(With inputs from PTI)