IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad warning to Mark Zuckerberg

New Delhi, Mar 21 Minister of Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, on Wednesday conveyed an expression of warning to Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, over the allegations of data breach.

"Mr. Check Zuckerberg, you better know the observation of IT Minister of India. if any data theft of Indians is done with the conspiracy of Facebook systems, it won't go on without serious consequences. We have stringent powers in the IT Act incorporating summoning you in India," Prasad said while addressing media persons here.

The Union Minister's stern message comes after Britain's Channel 4 alleged New York-based data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica (CA), harvested private information of Facebook clients in 2014 to impact decisions in a few nations in 2014, the year India went to the polls.

He also stressed that that any attempt to influence India's electoral process will be managed solidly. "We support free trade of ideas on social media but any attempt by social media including FB of attempting to impact India's constituent procedure through undesirable means won't go on without serious consequences. Give Facebook a chance to note it obviously," Prasad said.

The minister also blamed the Congress party for having joins with CA. "Will Congress Party rely upon information burglary and control to win races? What is the part of Cambridge Analytica in online networking profile of Rahul Gandhi?," questioned the minister.

However, Congress rebutted the charges, saying that neither the gathering nor its president Rahul Gandhi used the services of Cambridge Analytica.