Cambridge Analytica CEO ‘admits to dirty tricks’
UK Information Commissioner has sought a warrant to search the company’s servers
Cambridge Analytica executives have boasted of a series of dirty tricks the company uses to sway elections around the world, according to an undercover report by Channel 4 News.
In video footage released yesterday, Cambridge Analytica chief executive Alexander Nix (pictured above) appears to suggest the company uses honey traps, bribery stings and prostitutes to gather dirt on candidates, which it then releases to the public.
“We’ll offer a large amount of money to the candidate, to finance his campaign in exchange for land for instance, we’ll have the whole thing recorded, we’ll blank out the face of our guy and we post it on the Internet,” Nix said in the video.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Nix also said he could “send some girls around to the candidate's house,” adding that Ukrainian girls “are very beautiful, I find that works very well”.
In a statement, Cambridge Analytica said the report had “grossly misrepresented” the secretly filmed conversations, saying its executives had “entertained a series of ludicrous hypothetical scenarios” in order to “tease out any unethical or illegal intentions”.
The revelation comes a day after The Guardian reported that the company hired by Donald Trump’s election team had harvested personal information of more than 50 million US Facebook users in the social media giant’s largest-ever data breach.
Earlier this month, Nix told a UK parliamentary inquiry into fake news and Russian interference in the Brexit referendum that the company had “never used or possessed Facebook data,” the New York Times says.
UK Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham is seeking a warrant to examine Cambridge Analytica’s databases and servers in an effort to “understand how data was processed or deleted”, the BBC says.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Dresden: on the trail of a Romantic icon in Germany
the week recommends The Saxon city celebrates the 250th birthday of Caspar David Friedrich this year
By The Week UK Published
-
5 tremendously trending cartoons on the TikTok showdown
Cartoons Artists take on Chinese influence, privacy concerns, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Recipe: nasi goreng spicy fried rice
The Week Recommends Perfect for weeknights, this gluten-free twist on Indonesian fried rice is 'oh-so-good'
By The Week UK Published
-
Reader favourites
Speed Read A selection of short but sweet features from across The Week magazine
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drug
Speed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
By The Week Staff Published
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policy
Speed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
By The Week Staff Published
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?
Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UK
Speed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakers
Speed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
By The Week Staff Published
-
Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’
Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Motherhood: why are we putting it off?
Speed Read Stats show around 50% of women in England and Wales now don’t have children by 30
By The Week Staff Published