Minister of Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, on Wednesday sent out a word of warning to Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, over the allegations of data breach.
“Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, you better know the observation of IT Minister of India. If any data theft of Indians is done with the collusion of Facebook systems, it will not be tolerated. We have got stringent powers in the IT Act including summoning you in India,” Prasad said while addressing media persons here.
The Union Minister’s stern message comes after Britain’s Channel 4 alleged New York-based data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica (CA), harvested private data of Facebook users in 2014 to influence elections in several countries in 2014, the year India went to the polls.
He also stressed that that any attempt to influence India’s electoral process will be dealt with firmly. “We support free exchange of ideas on social media but any attempt by social media including FB of trying to influence India’s electoral process through undesirable means will not be tolerated. Let Facebook note it very clearly,” Prasad said.
The minister also accused the Congress party of having links with CA. “Will Congress Party depend on data theft and manipulation to win elections? What is the role of Cambridge Analytica in social media profile of Rahul Gandhi?,” questioned the minister.
However, Congress rebutted the charges, saying that neither the party nor its president Rahul Gandhi used the services of Cambridge Analytica.