New Delhi: In wake of the Facebook data breach, the BJP and Congress have started to trade charges which the Modi government saying that Congress plans to use the Cambridge Analytica frim’s service for the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
Congress, on the other hand, has said that the BJP has dished out a ‘new lie from it’s lie factory.’
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Citing media reports about the Congress’ plan to use the firm’s service for next year’s Lok Sabha elections, Ravi Shankar Prasad, the law and IT minister, called upon Rahul Gandhi to explain the company’s role in his social media outreach. The BJP leader said the number of Gandhi’s Twitter followers had shot up recently and wondered if it was due to the services of the firm that he achieved this “fake popularity”.
“Will the Congress now depend on data manipulation and theft to woo voters?” Prasad asked. He said the firm has been accused of using “sex, sleaze and fake news” to influence elections and asked if the Congress too plans to walk the same path.
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“The Congress must explain if it has engaged in data trade with Cambridge Analytica,” he said, questioning the opposition party’s “silence” despite numerous reports of its link with the company. Prasad also took the opportunity to warn social media platforms like Facebook of stringent action if any attempt was made by them to influence the country’s electoral process through “undesirable means”.
“…let me make it very, very clear, we fully support freedom of press, speech and expression; we fully support free exchange of ideas on social media. But any attempt, covert or overt, by social media, including Facebook, of trying to influence India’s electoral process through undesirable means will neither be appreciated nor be tolerated,” Prasad said.
Rebutting the charges made by the BJP, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said neither his party nor Rahul Gandhi has ever hired the services of the beleaguered company. “Indian National Congress or the Congress President has never used or never hired the services of a company called Cambridge Analytica. It is a fake agenda and white lie being dished out by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad,” said Surjewala.
