Raila takes action against Cambridge Analytica and Facebook after damning exposé

dennis kibet

March 27, 2018 11:15 AM

Cambridge Analytica was exposed on how it helped Uhuru during the 2017 General Election.

NASA leader Raila Odinga has taken action against controversial Cambridge Analytica firm and Facebook after the damning expose which highlighted the role of the British data mining firm in the Kenyan elections.

NASA has asked both the US and UK Governments to open a full investigation against the firm after the explosive exposé by Channel 4 News which disclosed how it helped President Kenyatta during the 2017 General Election.

The firm is accused of using damaging information about politicians to push certain agenda to the electorates. Its main purpose was to play with the citizenry’s emotions by either creating fear or wooing undecided voters towards a candidate.

In response to the expose, Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju denied that the party had sought any services from the controversial firm, terming the claims as far-fetched.

Propaganda

Odinga has now said he will sue the British firm for using his name to fuel "devilish" propaganda.

In an interview with the same Channel 4 News that aired the expose, Odinga said he will also sue Facebook for coordinating the propaganda during the campaign season.

"You see stories such as 'Who is Raila Odinga' and 'The real Raila Odinga'... the Raila in those adverts was very evil, the devil incarnate. Kenya is leading the content in terms of use of social media and they have found the right environment here for this kind of propaganda.

Legal action

"I am disappointed that Facebook agreed to cooperate in this clandestine enterprise. We are contemplating legal action against Facebook," the NASA leader stated.

The former Prime Minister said the firm has to be dealt with saying it was bad for the continent.

"We will certaily take legal action against Cambridge Analytica. The introduction of this system being brought by Cambridge is bad for electoral democracy in the content," he added.

dennis kibet