National oil and gas company Petronas has denied being “associated” with controversial data consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica after being named in a recent data leak.
It also denied being linked to Cambridge Analytica’s parent company SCL Group.
“Petronas wishes to categorically deny the allegations against the company reported by Malaysiakini and Malay Mail on Jan 3, 2020.
“As per our previous statement published on the Petronas website on March 22, 2018, responding to a similar allegation, the company does not have any association with data consultancy Cambridge Analytica, and its parent company SCL Group,” it said in a brief statement today.
Data published online by former Cambridge Analytica staffer Brittany Kaiser (below) revealed that the British company had bid for a US$2 million (RM8.2 million) strategic communications deal with Petronas back in 2014.
The Petronas deal was intended to be a “trial run” for Cambridge Analytica’s campaign to help BN and Umno win the 14th General Elections (GE14).
Local consultancy firm Berkshire Media has since admitted to collaborating with Cambridge Analytica to submit a joint proposal in 2014 to Petronas to help it “improve stakeholder relations and communications” in Sabah and Sarawak.
Berkshire said the project did not materialise as Petronas suffered budget constraints at the time.
Petronas’ statement today bore no mention of any business proposals or deals with Cambridge Analytica.
Emails from the data leak, dubbed the “Merdeka Papers”, showed Cambridge Analytica had proposed to use information from Petronas as well as Malaysia’s Special Branch in its GE14 political propaganda campaign for BN.
It also revealed Cambridge Analytica executives had reached out to several former BN ministers prior to GE14, and met with BN representatives in Kuala Lumpur to pitch how the then ruling party could retain and win seats.
It is unclear what Cambridge Analytica managed to put in place in the lead up to GE14.
Cambridge Analytica shut down in May 2018 after it was exposed to have used Facebook data to manipulate voter sentiments.
The company is best known for being involved in Donald Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign in the US. - Mkini
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