Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Chris Wylie on testimony of former boss Alexander Nix — Transcript

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1. 0:00Alexander Nix made out that it was you
2. 0:02who was the liar today I mean time and
3. 0:04time again he said you had misled MPs
4. 0:07you told them things that just weren't
5. 0:08true
6. 0:10what's your response well as the chair
7. 0:13Damion Collins has said at committee
8. 0:16today I actually backed up everything
9. 0:17that I said with documents and it's not
10. 0:20just me it is several other people who
11. 0:22have come forward to the committee and
12. 0:24so you into journalists at the Guardian
13. 0:26and Channel four who have also
14. 0:28corroborated the claims that I have made
15. 0:30so I'm quite comfortable standing by the
16. 0:33statements that I made both to the
17. 0:34committee into the into the media and
18. 0:36more broadly you know this is this is a
19. 0:38man who's being completely discredited
20. 0:40because as he admits he seems to be a
21. 0:43compulsive liar and his only defense
22. 0:45right now is that he was consistently
23. 0:47lying to clients left right and center
24. 0:49on points of facts though you know he
25. 0:51says you you effectively told the
26. 0:53committee that came John Eliska had a
27. 0:55pivotal role in the brexit campaign they
28. 0:57didn't vote for vote they didn't work
29. 0:59for vote leave they didn't vote for
30. 1:00leave dot-eu
31. 1:01when I think what I said was that the
32. 1:04company Cambridge analytic I did play a
33. 1:07pivotal role in brexit because of its
34. 1:09creation of aggregate IQ which received
35. 1:1240% of vote leave spending that was the
36. 1:14company in Canada the company in Canada
37. 1:16that was listed as SEL Canada and worked
38. 1:18on building the rip on platform which is
39. 1:20the platform that used all the
40. 1:21misappropriated Facebook data so what I
41. 1:23was saying is that they did yes play a
42. 1:25pivotal role in brexit because of the
43. 1:26companies and the technologies that it
44. 1:28created which were then used by vote
45. 1:30leave he said you were also wrong in the
46. 1:32allegations you made about what they did
47. 1:33in Africa she's still stunned by it
48. 1:35there's videos there's documents there's
49. 1:38other there's other people who were
50. 1:40there who are witnesses who've backed up
51. 1:41the the things that I have said you know
52. 1:44again this is me providing documentation
53. 1:46this is me providing videos this is me
54. 1:48providing emails you don't have to take
55. 1:51my word for it it is it is documented in
56. 1:53evidence I mean ultimately he was he was
57. 1:56making you out as an embittered man you
58. 1:59know that he said you had more data than
59. 2:00anybody else but you had then tried to
60. 2:03sell these services to the same clients
61. 2:06and when you couldn't you turned on
62. 2:08Cambridge analyst I mean that's the way
63. 2:10he tried to to paint you out today yeah
64. 2:12and it's just
65. 2:13Lyonne true but again this is a man
66. 2:15whose only defense is that he's a
67. 2:17compulsive liar so I don't think he's a
68. 2:18credible I don't think he's a credible
69. 2:20witness and I don't think we should take
70. 2:21him seriously
71. 2:22I mean look a lot of our viewers might
72. 2:23be wondering why we're all still going
73. 2:24on about this right I mean why does it
74. 2:27matter well it matters because of a
75. 2:30wider issue that is it's exposed which
76. 2:32is how social media is now playing a
77. 2:35role in impacting our democracy and
78. 2:37that's really important for for for
79. 2:40Parliament's around the world to debate
80. 2:42and understand and really to look more
81. 2:44broadly at technology companies like
82. 2:46Facebook and how they've been extremely
83. 2:48reckless with with very sensitive
84. 2:50personal data and the impacts that that
85. 2:52can have would you feel is still going
86. 2:54on
87. 2:54what well what we've what we've seen is
88. 2:57the total lack of transparency of
89. 2:59Facebook they refuse to come to you know
90. 3:01Mark Zuckerberg refuses continuously to
91. 3:03come to the British Parliament and
92. 3:04testify because he knows that he's going
93. 3:06to get asked to have tough questions
94. 3:07that he doesn't want to answer like was
95. 3:09did-did-did misappropriate
96. 3:13misappropriated data which was used on
97. 3:15on on Facebook affect the results of the
98. 3:18Trump election and again what was vote
99. 3:21leave doing during brexit because 40% of
100. 3:24their spending went to aiq a company
101. 3:26that was set up at Cambridge analytics
102. 3:27and most of that money ended up going
103. 3:29onto Facebook targeting so it matters
104. 3:32for the future of our democracy and it
105. 3:34also matters when we think about the
106. 3:35fact that as technology further
107. 3:38integrates in our lives more and more
108. 3:40data about us is being produced and if
109. 3:42we if we allow companies in a totally
110. 3:45unregulated and unchecked way to
111. 3:47manipulate that information and indeed
112. 3:49what we see around us that is that is a
113. 3:52loss of agency for people and that
114. 3:53matters because that affects that
115. 3:55affects how we live that affects who we
116. 3:57know what we interact with our job
117. 3:58opportunities and indeed the envy the
118. 4:01outcome of our elections do you think
119. 4:04this is still going on by somebody else
120. 4:06you came down because let's gonna shut
121. 4:08down you know what do we need to fear we
122. 4:12we need we I think the the the response
123. 4:15the Facebook is really telling the fact
124. 4:17that they don't want to give answers
125. 4:19about what's happening on their platform
126. 4:20I think is quite revealing why isn't it
127. 4:23that why why does Mark Zuckerberg not
128. 4:25want to come to to committee why
129. 4:27doesn't he want to come and testify
130. 4:28because there is something happening in
131. 4:30these companies that they don't want us
132. 4:32to see and I think it's the fact that
133. 4:34this is a much more pervasive problem
134. 4:36than then then what Facebook or other
135. 4:39companies would be comfortable with us
136. 4:41seeing we should also make clear that
137. 4:42aiq say that they are not Cambridge on
138. 4:45let's go
139. 4:45I don't sure but they built Cambridge
140. 4:47analytic as technology as as Gizmodo and
141. 4:50a up guard have revealed the data was
142. 4:53intimate submissive that they did work
143. 4:55for them yet but they were tied at the
144. 4:57hip you've also said that you are
145. 5:00talking to police on both sides of the
146. 5:02Atlantic
147. 5:02yes what can you tell us about what
148. 5:03they're asking you about so I've been
149. 5:08dealing with the National Crime Agency
150. 5:09in Britain and the FBI in the United
151. 5:13States I can't speak specifically as to
152. 5:16what they are what they are asking about
153. 5:18but what I can say more generally is
154. 5:19that they are they're exploring various
155. 5:21potential crimes that have been
156. 5:22committed by Cambridge analytic and
157. 5:25actors within Cambridge on both sides of
158. 5:27the Atlantic yet how has this been for
159. 5:31you I mean you know six months ago you
160. 5:34were well-known in a very small circle
161. 5:36of people now your face and your claims
162. 5:40have been splashed all over the world
163. 5:42you have been attacked your credibility
164. 5:44has been attacked yeah and your you've
165. 5:47been at the your heart of the storm yeah
166. 5:49what kind of it's you know it's not
167. 5:54about me it's about what I'm saying
168. 5:56that's important and the thing that I
169. 5:58find really heartening is the fact that
170. 6:00I've now been invited to four
171. 6:02jurisdictions to testify at legislatures
172. 6:05in in in four jurisdictions and that our
173. 6:08legislators are starting to realize that
174. 6:10actually technology is not an issue
175. 6:12technology affects everybody and that we
176. 6:14need to take it seriously because as
177. 6:17society evolves with technology this is
178. 6:19only going to to grow an inch or further
179. 6:21integrate with our lives
180. 6:22so I'm actually quite heartened by the
181. 6:24fact that this story has made an impact
182. 6:27you know that's in large part due to you
183. 6:29know Channel 4's work as well as The
184. 6:31Guardian and the New York Times - to
185. 6:34finally show people what the impact of
186. 6:37technology can be on our democracy and
187. 6:39so
188. 6:40I I think that the reaction it is is
189. 6:43promising and I'm optimistic about
190. 6:52you