Cambridge Analytica, the data analytics firm best known for its work for the Trump presidential campaign, has suspended its CEO in the wake of a damning exposé about the company’s investigative techniques.
The firm also says that it will be opening an investigation into comments that its CEO, Alexander Nix, made in a secret recording aired by Channel 4 in the U.K. on Monday.
“In the view of the Board, Mr. Nix’s recent comments secretly recorded by Channel 4 and other allegations do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation,” the company said in a statement. (RELATED: Facebook Is Suspending Cambridge Analytica)
Channel 4 secretly recorded Nix telling an undercover reporter that his company uses bribes and sex workers to entrap their clients’ political opponents.
“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 one of the recordings.
Nix and another company executive were meeting in London with an undercover journalist posing as an associate of Sri Lankan politicians soliciting Cambridge’s services, which include not just data harvesting on social media, but more aggressive smear campaigning.
The Trump campaign used Cambridge Analytica to harvest detailed personal information to target voters on Facebook. Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist, was on the company’s board of directors.
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