Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg broke his silence over the Cambridge Analytica scandal on Wednesday but did not apologize for the fact that 51 million Facebook users’ information was taken without their knowledge.
In a lengthy post, Zuckerberg offered his timeline of the events which led to the revelation this week that the shadowy data firm which shaped Trump’s campaign and has been linked to Brexit improperly harvested tens of millions of users’ data in 2013 by buying it from an app.
He said ‘the good news’ was that Facebook changed its practices years ago to stop apps from accessing so much information. He however did acknowledge that the breach happened under his watch and said the company was now working on ways to win back users’ trust.
‘I started Facebook, and at the end of the day I’m responsible for what happens on our platform. ‘I’m serious about doing what it takes to protect our community. While this specific issue involving Cambridge Analytica should no longer happen with new apps today, that doesn’t change what happened in the past. ‘We will learn from this experience to secure our platform further and make our community safer for everyone going forward,’ he said.
His announcement sent Facebook’s struggling stock back up to $169.39 before the final bell. Â At 1.30pm, after news emerged that he was due to address the scandal, the stock surpassed the $170 mark for the first time since Monday. Before the scandal, it was $185.
In his statement, Zuckerberg said that while it was ‘his responsibility’ what happened at Facebook, the company was duped by Aleksandr Kogan, the researcher who sold the information to Cambridge Analytica, just as the people who gave him their details were.
