29 Mar 2018

Cambridge Analytica: The Mexico allegations

Latin America Correspondent

Last week, this programme exposed how Cambridge Analytica claimed to have intervened – often secretly – in elections around the world. Now the secrets are unspooling. An undercover reporter for Channel 4 News posed as a fixer for a wealthy client hoping to get candidates elected in Sri Lanka. Last week, that country’s Prime Minister admitted meeting the firm — though said he had declined to use them.

A row continues in India, where the governing BJP and the Congress Party both accuse the other of hiring Cambridge Analytica associate SCL India. In Kenya, opposition leader Raila Odinga is considering legal action against Cambridge Analytica and Facebook following his electoral defeat last year. The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago has opened an investigation into SCL, Cambridge Analytica and other linked firms.

Now from Mexico, our Latin America Correspondent Guillermo Galdos reports on the demise of deal to harvest data from a million citizens – cancelled after Channel 4 News began investigating.