(RNN) - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a lengthy post on Wednesday acknowledging the misuse of user data by Cambridge Analytica.
"We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you," it read in part.
The New York Times and The Guardian newspaper reported on March 16 that a Trump-affiliated data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica used data that was inappropriately obtained from roughly 50 million Facebook users to try to influence elections.
Facebook suffered its worst day on the stock market since 2014 on Monday. Its shares plunged 7 percent.
Cambridge's board of directors suspended CEO Alexander Nix pending an investigation after Nix boasted of various unsavory services to an undercover reporter for Britain's Channel 4 News, according to the Associated Press.
Channel 4 News showed clips Tuesday that show Nix admitting his data-mining firm played a role in Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump's campaign has distanced itself from the firm and claimed it did not use Cambridge's data.
Cambridge has also denied wrongdoing.
The U.K. parliamentary media committee has summoned Zuckerberg to testify, according to AP.
Copyright 2018 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
