Cambridge Analytica: Facebook data breach scandal is only the latest in a series of abuses

Facebook has a problem it just can't kick: People keep exploiting it in ways that could sway elections, and in the worst cases even undermine democracy. News reports that Facebook let the Trump-affiliated data mining firm Cambridge Analytica abscond with data from tens of millions of users mark the third time in roughly a year the company appears to have been outfoxed by crafty outsiders in this way. Before the Cambridge imbroglio, there were Russian agents running election-related propaganda campaigns through targeted ads and fake political events. And before the Russians took centre stage, there were purveyors of fake news who spread false stories to rile up hyper-partisan audiences and profit from the resulting ad revenue. In the previous cases, Facebook initially downplayed the risks posed by these activities.