Germany's Justice Minister Katarina Barley said on Thursday that she was seeking a meeting with Facebook's EU management, saying they had questions to answer about the revelations that a private company was able to harvest the data of millions of users. This data was then allegedly sold to political actors seeking to exploit users' weaknesses with targeted political ads.

Read more: Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal: What you need to know

People were "against their will forced to interact…with hate speech," Barley told newspaper publisher Funke Mediengruppe.

She called such methods "a threat to democracy," adding that Facebook's European management owed the German government some answers.

Later, Barley said that she had requested an official meeting with the social media giant's European leadership team next week. "We have to determine how far we have to change the rules," Barley said, adding that users need to be made more aware of where their data is going and have clearer choices for data protection.

Barley said she would demand the company offer concrete solutions on data security.

Over the weekend, a whistleblower revealed that London-based data research firm Cambridge Analytica, a subsidiary of the government contractor SCL Group, had used a personality test set up by a psychology lecturer to gather data from 270,000 users. They were also able to gather data from these users' friends, eventually getting information from 50 million people.

'We built models to exploit inner demons'

Founded in 2013 by the archconservative Robert Mercer with input from Steve Bannon, who later became adviser to US President Donald Trump, the firm was ostensibly set up to support conservative political causes – though the White House has denied using Cambridge Analytica data for the 2016 election campaign.

Co-founder Christopher Wylie, who left the company in 2014, told Britain's Observer newspaper: "We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people's profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons."

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? The faces behind the scandal Facebook has been slammed for failing to protect the data of more than 50 million users. Their data was used to further conservative political projects, including Brexit and Donald Trump's presidential victory. From a former White House strategist to a Canadian whistle blower, here are the people involved in what some are describing as Facebook's largest data breach.

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Whistleblower who hacked Facebook A 28-year-old Canadian data analytics expert first blew the whistle on the scandal to Britain’s Observer newspaper. Christopher Wylie claims he set up the project for Cambridge Analytica and helped forge ties with Donald Trump’s campaign. He revealed that millions of profiles were hijacked to influence the election. Cambridge Analytica says Wylie has been "misrepresenting himself and the company."

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Cambridge Analytica boss Cambridge Analytica CEO, Alexander Nix, was one of several senior executives filmed by an undercover reporter from Britain's Channel 4. Nix claimed credit for Donald Trump's 2016 electoral victory. He also said his political consultancy could feed untraceable messages on social media. Executives bragged that the firm could use misinformation, bribery and even prostitutes to help win elections.

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Psychology academic behind Facebook app A Moldovan-born Cambridge University researcher developed a personality app that harvested the personal data of 30 million Facebook users. Aleksandr Kogan said he passed the information to Cambridge Analytica, under assurances that what he was doing was legal. But now he says the research firm and Facebook are scapegoating him over the scandal.

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Facebook chief was 'deceived' over data use Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was criticized for waiting for four days to respond to the scandal. His social media network claims to be the victim of the whole saga, insisting it was unaware of how the data was being used. Still, Zuckerberg has been summoned by the British and European parliaments, while US consumer regulators have launched an investigation into the firm's use of personal data.

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Trump strategist with Cambridge links Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon helped develop the populist, anti-Washington message that helped the billionaire win the White House. A founding member of right-wing outlet Breitbart News, Bannon is a former board member of Cambridge Analytica and brought in wealthy businessman Robert Mercer as a financial backer. He left the White House last August and Trump has since cut him off. Author: Nik Martin



The scandal took on a wider scope when footage emerged of now-suspended CEO Alexander Nix implying to a reporter posing as a Sri Lankan politician that he could use bribery and blackmail to sway an election.

Zuckerberg has also come under fire from UK and EU officials. Britain's Information Commissioner's Office has asked the Facebook CEO to come give evidence in its criminal investigation into Cambridge Analytica, and EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova warned on a trip to Washington that Facebook's security breach was undermining democracy.

After several days of silence following Sunday's revelations, Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that Facebook would "step up" measures to protect user data.

"The good news is that the most important actions to prevent this from happening again today we have already taken years ago," Zuckerberg said in a statement. "But we also made mistakes, there's more to do, and we need to step up and do it."

es/ng (AFP, dpa)

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