Cambridge Analytica: links to Moscow oil firm and St Petersburg university

[applegrove]

https://amp.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-academic-trawling-facebook-had-links-to-russian-university?__twitter_impression=true

Carole Cadwalladr and Emma Graham-Harrison at the Guardian

"SNIP.......

Aleksandr Kogan, the Cambridge University academic who orchestrated the harvesting of Facebook data, had previously unreported ties to a Russian university, including a teaching position and grants for research into the social media network, the Observer has discovered. Cambridge Analytica, the data firm he worked with – which funded the project to turn tens of millions of Facebook profiles into a unique political weapon – also attracted interest from a key Russian firm with links to the Kremlin.

Energy firm Lukoil, which is now on the US sanctions list and has been used as a vehicle of government influence, saw a presentation on the firm’s work in 2014. It began with a focus on voter suppression in Nigeria, and Cambridge Analytica also discussed “micro-targeting” individuals on social media during elections.

The revelations come at a time of intense US scrutiny of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, with 13 Russians criminally charged last month with interfering to help Donald Trump.

In Britain, concerns about Russian propaganda have been mounting, with the prime minister, Theresa May, recently attacking Russia for spreading fake news, accusing Moscow of attempts to “weaponise information” and influence polls.


........SNIP"

[Kablooie]

1. The Mercers funded this. Could they be brought down along with the company?

God I hope so.
They are pure slime.

[herding cats]

2. They are, and anything that might help break some of their hold on US politics I support!

They're quite possibly even worse than the Koch's. It's difficult to be sure since they have subtly different stenches of vileness.

[DemocracyMouse]

3. "Different stenches of vileness!" Well put!

[UCmeNdc]

4. Seems as if the American media still has not got a good grip on this story.

They report as if Cambridge Analytica was just after personal information. They do not report on or investigate how that personal information has been used.