Cambridge Analytica CEO suspended by board

The board of data mining firm Cambridge Analytica said today it had suspended its CEO, Alexander Nix, following accusations the firm misused information from up to 50 million Facebook accounts.

The board said that secretly recorded comments Nix had made in a report by the U.K.'s Channel 4 "and other allegations do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation."

The suspension was effective immediately and was "pending a full, independent investigation," the board said.

The board asked Alexander Tayler to serve as the firm's acting chief executive while the investigation was launched.

It said it would "ensure that Cambridge Analytica, in all of its operations, represents the firm's values and delivers the highest-quality service to its clients."

The company is under investigation by British officials for its use of data from Facebook users.