Contrary to claims made on the controversial company’s website, Cambridge Analytica told British parliament that it was never hired for political campaigning in Colombia.
Former Cambridge Analytica director Brittany Kaiser told a parliamentary commission in the UK that it talked to three different campaigns, but was never hired to campaign in the South American country.
Kaiser contradicted her own website, which claimed that the company helped an election candidate in Colombia with “reputation management” through data collection.
The company, which allegedly supported US President Donald Trump and the British campaign to leave the European Union in 2016, is tied to a mobile app suspected of mining data in Colombia.
Cambridge Analytica claims it supported political campaign in Colombia
Kaiser admitted using the app for collecting data in Mexico, but said “I have never been to Colombia.”
Colombian authorities ordered the shut-down of the Pig-gi app, while investigating if it was collecting data illegally and has been used in political campaigning.
The South American country has strict laws that ban the use of disinformation or “fake news” in political campaigning.
Social media, however, have blurred the line between citizens spreading misinformation and spin doctors intentionally promoting disinformation.
The campaign leading up to a referendum that sunk a peace process with Marxist FARC guerrillas was marred by false and exaggerated claims, and also ongoing election campaigns have seen unsubstantiated claims that election a leftist or center candidate would “convert the country to a second Venezuela.”