In the wake of the 2016 US presidential election, Facebook has come under increasing scrutiny for the ways its platform can be misused. That scrutiny intensified greatly last month amid reports that a London-based data mining firm named Cambridge Analytica had improperly obtained user data from as many as 87 million people — and that Facebook had failed to confirm that the company deleted the data as promised.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal
Understanding Facebook’s data privacy debacle
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The Federal Trade Commission is now investigating, and Congress is holding hearings. Meanwhile, Facebook faces at least three related crises: the data privacy scandal; the collapse of trust in the News Feed caused by revelations that Russian agents had flooded it with divisive content; and the broader reckoning over social media and whether it is good for us and democracy.
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A simple link to check
Tom Warren
Cambridge Analytica played a key role in the 2016 presidential election campaign
Casey Newton
The firm at the center of a Facebook scandal faces its own crisis
Casey Newton
Market researchers have used these tricks for years
Alexandra Samuel
The CEO finally apologizes
Casey Newton
‘We run ads’
Shannon Liao
These members of Congress did their homework
Casey Newton
Multiple legislators have asked Mark Zuckerberg about Lynnette “Diamond” Hardaway and Rochelle “Silk” Richardson, who complained that Facebook was limiting the reach of their videos.
Adi Robertson
A simple link to check
Tom Warren
Cambridge Analytica played a key role in the 2016 presidential election campaign
Casey Newton
The firm at the center of a Facebook scandal faces its own crisis
Casey Newton
Market researchers have used these tricks for years
Alexandra Samuel
The CEO finally apologizes
Casey Newton
‘We run ads’
Shannon Liao
These members of Congress did their homework
Casey Newton
Multiple legislators have asked Mark Zuckerberg about Lynnette “Diamond” Hardaway and Rochelle “Silk” Richardson, who complained that Facebook was limiting the reach of their videos.
Adi Robertson
What happened
Facebook reacts
The world reacts
