Cambridge Analytica Story Is A Giant Hoax

Facebook Inc. said it suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data firm that helped President Donald Trump with the 2016 election, after learning that it misled the social-media giant and violated its policy for handling user data. Facebook said late Friday it been given information that Cambridge Analytica, along with two individuals who don’t work there, improperly kept Facebook user data for years despite telling the social network that it had destroyed those records. Facebook didn’t say how Cambridge Analytica used that data or if it gave the data to the Trump campaign. Cambridge Analytica didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment late Friday. Facebook, which didn’t elaborate on the source of its information, said it is suspending Cambridge Analytica, its parent Strategic Communication Laboratories, and the two individuals from buying ads or administering clients’ pages while it investigates the reports. The move once again spotlights Facebook’s role during the 2016 presidential election and its shortcomings in policing manipulation and misuse of its platform.