social networks cut ten days before the elections, against a backdrop of telephone tapping scandal

Mauritians woke up on November 1st deprived of social networks. Facebook, TikTok and Youtube applications were not accessible on the Indian Ocean island where legislative elections are scheduled in ten days. In the morning, the second largest telecommunications operator in Mauritius, EMTEL, explained that it had received an order from the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) on Thursday evening to block access to all social media platforms. The blockage is expected to last until November 11, the day after the election.

The reason? Of the “illegal publications” appeared on the platforms since mid-October, which would leave the risk of a “impact on national security and public safety”, the operator mentioned. Since mid-October, extracts of telephone conversations of politicians, members of civil society, diplomats, lawyers and journalists, recorded without their knowledge, have leaked on social networks, plunging Mauritius into a vast scandal. policy.

The affair, called «Mission Moustass» named after the anonymous account disclosing the recordings, reveals profound dysfunctions within state services and implicates even senior police officers. The organization Transparency Mauritius has requested an independent investigation to clarify these “allegations of abuse of power”at the same time warning against the diffusion “unverified information”. As part of the investigation into these leaks, lhe former CEO of Mauritius Telecom, Sherry Singh, was arrested Friday evening with three other suspects, police sources told AFP.

Less than 10 days before the elections

Friday morning, the office of Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth – whose voice is heard in the last recording broadcast – confirmed the suspension order from the ICTA, specifying that this decision was intended to “preserve our national security and the integrity of the country, as well as those of our international partners,” the firm said in a statement. Shortly after this decision, the president of the National Cybersecurity Committee, Didier Sam-Fat, announced his resignation to express his indignation.

On the Indian Ocean island inhabited by just over 1.2 million people, one of Africa's most stable democracies, some 820,000 people use Facebook – more than half the population – and 390,000 are registered on Instagram. WhatsApp messaging remained accessible on Friday morning, although the Mauritian press had already been reporting significant slowdowns on the application for a week, preventing video sharing, or abruptly ending telephone conversations. For the rest, NetBlocks, an internet governance watchdog, confirmed that Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X were not accessible.

This widespread outage occurs less than ten days before the November 10 election, when Mauritians are called to the polls to elect their deputies. During this election, Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth's Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) will seek to maintain its majority in the National Assembly to grant the head of government a new five-year mandate. The latter assumed this position following the death of his father in 2017, before ensuring the victory of his coalition in the 2019 legislative elections.

“It is shocking, revolting and unacceptable. It's a sign of panic.”said Paul Berenger, one of the leaders of the opposition coalition Alliance for Change. “We are dealing with people who are dangerous for the country. Lawyers work on what can be done legally. We will act very quickly on the legal and political level”he added. “This is the last desperate act of a failed regime”added Nando Bodha, leader of the opposition group Linion Reform. “He attacks head-on the fundamental rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution, including freedom of expression”he added, calling for intervention by the Electoral Commission to ensure that the polls are “free and fair”.