Data scientist drops Facebook defamation suit

Aleksandr Kogan poses for a portrait Tuesday, July 2, 2018, in Buffalo N.Y. Kogan is at the center of the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal says he is dropping a defamation suit against Facebook rather than endure a drawn-out legal battle he can ill afford. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

Aleksandr Kogan, the data scientist at the centre of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal, said he is dropping a defamation lawsuit against the social network rather than engage in an expensive, drawn-out legal battle. 

Kogan, 33, sued the social giant in March, claiming it scapegoated him to deflect attention from its own misdeeds, thwarting his academic career in the process. The suit sought unspecified monetary damages and a retraction and correction of what Kogan said were “false and defamatory statements”.