India issues notice to Cambridge Analytica over social media data manipulation

NEW DELHI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government has slapped a notice on Cambridge Analytica, a global data firm which allegedly manipulated social media data in many countries to influence voters for its clients.

India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has also threatened to initiate legal action against Cambridge Analytica in case it fails to respond to the notice by March 31, a senior official said Saturday.

"Two of the questions asked by the government are -- whether the firm has been engaged in any assignment to utilise data of Indians and the entities that has engaged the firm for using data of Indians," he said.

The Indian government on Wednesday asked the main opposition Congress party to come clean on its "links" with Cambridge Analytica, citing media reports that it has hired the data firm to run their campaign for 2019 general elections.

Indian Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had also made it clear that "any covert or overt attempt" to misuse social media, including Facebook, "to influence country's electoral process through undesirable means" will neither be tolerated nor be permitted.

"The National Democratic Alliance government is committed to free and fair elections," he added.

The Congress party has refuted the allegations, while both Cambridge Analytica and Facebook deny any wrongdoing. Enditem