Dirhams & Dollars

As billions of dollars ($52 billion so far) get wiped off Facebook’s market value, we look at exactly what triggered the sell off. In short the answer to that is Cambridge Analytica. The UK-based consultancy was first hit with accusations of possibly unethical conduct when a whistle blower dished out details on how Facebook was manipulated to sway voters in the US presidential election, Brexit referendum, and several other races around the world. That was closely followed by a Channel 4 report that showed the company’s executives apparently bragging about their use of propaganda, data mining and generally scurrilous means to help their clients scare people into voting a certain way. Not surprisingly, warrants were issued. But is what they did illegal? Are their alleged activities really that bad? And more importantly, how careful should you really be online? We’re joined by Jonathan Richards, Gulf News’ digital strategy director, who tells us more about the dark arts of internet manipulation. We also discu