The tangle of Facebook and the INE

The tangle of Facebook and the INE

The high-ranking officials of the social network Facebook , led by Mark Zuckerberg, are in quite a bind in the U.S. and UK over the alleged leak and usage of 50 million personal data by the consulting company Cambridge Analytica, which was involved in Donald Trump's campaign and which may have played a role in the Brexit. Now that the FB executives have accepted they are in a crisis, this has become quite the scandal. However, we're reminded that Facebook has a deal with the National Electoral Institute (INE) to fight fake news, given the 2018 General Election in Mexico. Of course, the agreement says nothing about fake news but hold the doors of the INE wide open for the social network, without bothering to give much of an explanation to the citizens. And sure enough, there is no additional agreement, like president councilor Lorenzo Córdova said. It's a matter of looking at the reply the INE gave to this newspaper through the transparency mechanism. How will this sad tale of woe end?

Who will sue the “Niña Bien?”

And talking about fake news and smear campaigns, we're told it would be nice if a political party were to request an investigation into the origin of the “Niña Bien” video , which urges people to vote for “You Know Who.” Our sources say that in order to deter further attempts, there are some who are interested in finding out who was behind the video. The conservative National Action Party (PAN) and the left Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) would benefit from knowing whether the left National Regeneration Party (MORENA) is campaigning during the inter-campaign period, and MORENA, in its turn, would certainly appreciate knowing if one of its rivals is behind it in order to attribute it to the MORENA members and land a blow to their candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Who will file the lawsuit?

AMLO is never wrong

In the left National Regeneration Party (MORENA), Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) is never wrong – not even when he's wrong. We're told that Mr. Andrés made a Himalayan blunder yesterday when he gave the name of the man he would appoint as chief NAFTA negotiator. AMLO said that the man who would oversee the negotiations would be Jesús Seade Helú but a quick search revealed there was no one with that name. We're told AMLO meant to say Jesús Seade Kuri , who according to the UNAM, majored in Chemical Engineering in 1969. Despite the blunder, no member of AMLO's team dared to correct him. Perhaps they didn't wish to unleash the tiger, perhaps it was just a precaution.

Jumping at the opportunity

Leaves of absence are coming in numbers at the Lower Chamber due to the legislators who want to jump at other opportunities. Like we have told you before in this section, each Tuesday and Thursday the Plenum of the Chamber of Deputies is a ghost town that seems even more abandoned with each passing day. This Tuesday another eight Federal Deputies requested a leave of absence – out of which seven are looking for a seat at local Lower Chambers. Three are members of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) – Rubén Garrido Muñoz, Román Francisco Cortés, and Javier Antonio Neblina Vega – and other three of the left Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) – Irazema Briones, José Santiago López, and Victoriano Wences Real. The only one of the center-right Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who requested his leave of absence was Héctor Ulises Cristopulos. In the case of Ricardo Sheffield (PAN), he asked leave of absence to run for Governor of Guanajuato under the left National Regeneration Party (MORENA). How many will manage to jump at other opportunities successfully?

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