QUESTIONS have been pointedly asked about suspended Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix’s involvement in the Scottish independence referendum. SNP MP Brendan O’Hara astutely asked whistleblower Christopher Wylie, who previously worked for the data firm, whether he knew if Nix had reached out to either the Yes or No campaigns.
O’Hara’s line of questioning at Westminster’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee elicited that Nix allegedly wanted to win work in Scotland. He now plans to grill the former CA boss about Wylie’s claims.
The committee’s "Fake News" inquiry is wide ranging in its scope and O’Hara is right to ask witnesses such as Wylie and Nix about any involvement in the Scottish referendum, and in Scottish elections.
Now that we know there is a possibility the Nix sought work in Scotland, he must be asked to reveal who he met, when he met them, why he met them and whether he did any work. And, given there could now be a Scottish dimension to this scandal, MSPs at the Scottish Parliament will be no doubt be curious about whether it reaches their door.
Since the independence referendum in 2014 we have had Holyrood elections in 2016, local elections in 2017, and elections to Westminster in 2015 and 2017. Politicians must now be wondering whether data firms were able to influence the outcome of those polls and some will think it’s time for Holyrood to set up its own fake news inquiry.
The Scottish Parliament’s Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Relations Committee, which most closely mirrors Westminster’s DCMS committee, would do well to consider this option in the coming weeks.
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