‘Mark my words, I am really sorry’

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday apologised for a "major breach of trust" with its users and vowed to take steps to protect their data, as the social media giant faced heat over users’ data being siphoned by a data mining firm with ties to the 2016 Trump campaign.

Seeking to quell the global uproar over harvesting of data of 50 million Facebook users by Cambridge Analytica, a British firm linked to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Zuckerberg admitted making "mistakes."

"I started Facebook, and at the end of the day, I'm responsible for what happens on our platform. I'm serious about doing what it takes to protect our community," he said in his first public comments since the scandal broke out. "We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you," Zuckerberg, 33, said in a Facebook post.

He promised to make it far harder for apps to "harvest" user information. Later, he told CNN in an interview that he was "really sorry" that this happened.

"This was a major breach of trust and I'm really sorry that this happened," he said, adding that it was the company's responsibility now is to make sure this does not happen again.

Zuckerberg said Facebook would be reviewing thousands of apps in an "intensive process". The data scandal erupted after a whistle blower revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a data firm with ties to Trump's presidential campaign, accessed personal data from 50 million Facebook users without their knowledge, and might have kept that data even after Facebook told the company to delete it. Zuckerberg acknowledged that there is more the company needs to do. "We're going to review thousands of apps," he said.

India's IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has warned social media companies such as Facebook of stringent actions if there was any attempt to influence the electoral process of the country.