Facebook row tech firm Cambridge Analytica has suspended its CEO Alexander Nix in the wake of a series of allegations.
Facebook is currently facing investigations by authorities in the EU, UK and the US over a reported data breach that impacted more than 50 million people.
Data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica was hired by Donald Trump's campaign team.
It's is accused of using millions of Facebook profiles without authorisation to predict and influence the US election.
The company's board says it has suspended Mr Nix pending a full independent investigation of his actions.
The suspension is effective immediately, according to the company's website.
Cambridge Analytica statement | Image: ca-commercial.com
Comments Mr Nix made to an undercover reporter for Britain's Channel 4 News and other allegations of wrongdoing were cited as reasons for the action by the board.
In secretly recorded conversations, Mr Nix claimed he had met Trump "many times", according to The Guardian.
"We did all the research, all the data, all the analytics, all the targeting. We ran all the digital campaign, the digital campaign, the television campaign and our data informed all the strategy," Mr Nix told undercover reporters.
The paper also reports that senior managers appeared to suggest that in their work for American clients there was planned division of work between official campaigns and unaffiliated "political action groups".
If true, this could be considered coordination, which is not allowed under US election law.
Mr Nix also was filmed boasting about using "Ukrainian girls" who are "very beautiful" to entrap the political opponents of clients.
Meanwhile, Facebook's founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been invited by the European Parliament to answer questions regarding the growing scandal about user data.
We’ve invited Mark Zuckerberg to the European Parliament. Facebook needs to clarify before the representatives of 500 million Europeans that personal data is not being used to manipulate democracy.
— Antonio Tajani (@EP_President) March 20, 2018
President Antonio Tajani said he invited Mr Zuckerberg to "clarify before the representatives of 500 million Europeans that personal data is not being used to manipulate democracy."
