The Cambridge Analytica whistleblower, Chris Wylie who revealed the Facebook’s latest scandal has his Facebook and Instagram accounts suspended by the social networking site. During a press conference in London, he pointed out, “This is the power Facebook has. They can delete you from the internet.”
Wyile is a 28-year-old data scientist who worked for Cambridge Analytica that was hired by the Trump campaign for consultancy. He provided whistleblower information to world’s leading news media companies, The New York Times, Guardian and Observer, alleging that the consultancy firm illegally accessed over 50 million Facebook accounts, violating user privacy.
Once he came to light as a whistleblower, Facebook suspended his account. He is also unable to access third-party apps that require validation from a user’s Facebook account. This indicates how Facebook has become ubiquitous in the modern online experience. According to the social networking site, Wylie’s account was suspended due to the violation of company’s terms of service.
Wylie is unable to identify the reason Facebook is framing him as a suspect. He indicated when Facebook found out about the data violation, it demanded all involved parties destroy the information. However, it was his work with the British authorities and not Facebook, that warranted a search for Cambridge Analytica’s office.
Following the scandal, WhatsApp’s co-founder has tweeted to delete Facebook. For those who do not want to abandon the social network entirely, they can always keep their data safe by configuring their profile settings.
