Tech

Facebook shares slide over 2 percent as Cambridge Analytica data breach fallout continues

Key Points
  • Facebook shares fell over 2 percent in pre-market trade as the fallout from the data breach scandal continues.
  • It's the third straight day of declines for Facebook's stock.
  • On the weekend, media reports outlined how the Facebook profiles of 50 million users were harvested for data, which was then sent to political data firm Cambridge Analytica.
  • Cambridge Analytica was the target of a sting in which senior executives revealed it handled the digital operations for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
Facebook pressure mounts as data scandal continues to worry investors
VIDEO4:2704:27
Facebook pressure mounts as data scandal continues to worry investors

Facebook shares fell over 2 percent in pre-market trade Wednesday, marking the third straight day of declines for the social media giant as the fallout from the data breach scandal continues.

Nearly $50 billion of market capitalization, or value, has been wiped off Facebook's stock since Monday.

On the weekend, media reports outlined how the Facebook profiles of 50 million users were harvested for data. The data was then sent to Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm, which worked on President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign.

Facebook has been accused of a data breach, something it denies.

So far, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has been silent on the issue, despite being summoned by U.K. and European Union lawmakers.

A full recap of the link between Cambridge Analytica and Facebook can be read here.

In an undercover sting by Britain's Channel 4 News, senior executives at Cambridge Analytica claimed they ran all the digital operations for Trump's 2016 campaign, and separately suggested they could use entrapment techniques such as bribes and sex workers to help politicians in other countries discredit their opponents.

Data scandal produces unprecedented uncertainty with Facebook: Analyst
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Data scandal produces unprecedented uncertainty with Facebook: Analyst

Cambridge Analytica accused Channel 4's reporter of using tricks to get its executives to make those claims. It also said that it had "never claimed" it won the election for Trump. Cambridge Analytica suspended its CEO Alexander Nix, who was caught in the Channel 4 sting.

Other social media stocks including Twitter and Snap took a hit on Tuesday. Some analysts have suggested that there could be stricter regulation of social media firms down the line.