Who’s Listening?
NEED TO KNOW
Who’s Listening?
MAURITIUS
Recordings of conversations between journalists, politicians, civil society leaders, foreign diplomats, and others have been made public recently in Mauritius, triggering a scandal just weeks before voters go to the polls on Nov. 10 to elect a new parliament.
One leak involved the police commissioner apparently asking a forensic doctor to alter a report on a person who died after being beaten in police custody.
The partially state-owned Mauritius Telecom denied involvement in the eavesdropping. Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and security forces claimed the unknown leakers used artificial intelligence to manipulate the conversations, reported Firstpost. But critics believed Jugnauth and his allies were trying to distract citizens from noticing that the recordings were likely from government surveillance operations.
“As Mauritius is heading into legislative elections, RSF is concerned about these leaks, which point to a system of widespread wiretapping that does not spare media professionals,” said Sadibou Marong, director of Reporters Without Borders’ Sub-Saharan Africa Desk. “The authorities cannot hide behind their artificial intelligence argument to cover up this major scandal. We call for an independent inquiry to identify those responsible for the wiretapping.”
The scandal could affect Jugnauth’s fortunes in the ballot box because it feeds perceptions that he has compromised the country’s democracy to retain power.
As Reuters explained, the prime minister assumed power in Mauritius in 2017 when his father stepped down from the same position. He then ran for reelection under his ruling Militant Socialist Movement political party in 2019 by promising fairer wealth distribution in the prosperous Indian Ocean country, an island that bills itself as African and Asian.
Despite the country’s thriving financial sector, Jugnauth apparently failed to fulfill his promises, if riots ignited by skyrocketing living costs in 2022 were any indication of the people’s sentiments. Those violent protests are why religious leaders in Mauritius have called for peace ahead of the vote, as the Association for Catholic Information in Africa noted.
Opposition figures challenged his victory in 2019 in court but failed to prove their claims that the prime minister won through bribery and influence peddling. Today, the same opposition figures are claiming that Jugnauth and his allied political parties have sanctioned nepotism and corruption.
Jugnauth will still likely win reelection but his margin will probably be smaller, predicted Fitch Solutions.
His successful completion of negotiations with the United Kingdom to regain sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, closing the book on colonization in the country, is one reason many voters might support him, India Today added. That agreement keeps the American-British military base on the island of Diego Garcia for 99 more years, but fulfills a long dream for the territory to be returned.
Still, on Friday, the government moved to block access to social media until after the election, setting off a furor.
The government said the restrictions were necessary to preserve national security and integrity, following the publication of “certain” audio clips, Al Jazeera reported. The opposition responded that it was a political move aimed at avoiding defeat in the election.
It’s likely that the opposition isn’t wrong but the move might backfire on the incumbents anyway because voters are focused on the scandals, Mauritius-based political analyst Jocelyn Chan Low told Reuters: “There is a popular outcry on many alleged scandals which are still unsolved and which have been the focus of these leaks.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
The Divorce
GERMANY
Germany’s ruling coalition collapsed Wednesday amid internal disputes among the three-party alliance, sparking fears of political uncertainty and paving the way for early elections months ahead of next fall’s scheduled vote, Al Jazeera reported.
The collapse followed a meeting of coalition – made up of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Green Party and the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP).
The meeting ended with Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD firing his finance minister and coalition partner, Christian Lindner of the pro-business FDP after months of disputes over spending and economic reforms.
Scholz claimed that Lindner’s dismissal was due to the latter’s obstructive behavior on budget issues, accusing the FDP leader of putting his party first and blocking bills on spurious grounds.
Lindner countered that the chancellor was forcing him to break what’s known as the “Black Zero,” a constitutionally-enshrined spending limit that prevents borrowing large sums unless there is an emergency.
Scholz’s adviser Jörg Kukies will now replace Lindner, with the chancellor saying that he intends to lead a minority government with the goal of passing key bills, including the 2025 budget before the end of the year, according to Politico.
However, political observers noted that he will need the support of the conservative opposition to do this, while also facing calls to hold early elections.
Scholz plans to hold a confidence vote in January, which he is expected to lose and trigger parliamentary elections in March.
Meanwhile, Friedrich Merz, the leader of the opposition center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said the vote needs to be held “by the beginning of next week at the latest.” Merz, whose party is leading in nationwide polls, added that Germany cannot wait too long to form a new government.
Merz and Scholz met at the chancellery around noon on Thursday to discuss a possible date for the next election but ended the talks in under an hour, with Merz leaving without comment, according to the Associated Press.
The collapse of the coalition comes after years of infighting between the political partners. The union was further strained following the European Parliament elections in June that saw all three ruling parties losing support.
Last month, a national poll reported that more than 85 percent of Germans are unhappy with the alliance, the New York Times noted.
The CDU and its Bavarian sister party – the Christian Socialist Union in Bavaria – are currently leading in the polls with 32 percent of voter support, while the SPD is in third place after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Analysts explained that an early election would allow the CDU to capitalize on its high level of support and prevent the rest of the governing coalition from improving their fortunes ahead of the polls.
Even so, they noted that parties would still need each other’s support following the early vote. The CDU has vowed not to form a coalition with the AfD, which means that it might have to rely on the SPD and Greens.
Meanwhile, there are concerns that voters will opt for populist movements, such as the anti-immigrant AfD, as many have grown disillusioned with mainstream parties amid a stagnating economy and the impact of the Ukraine war.
‘Crucial Moment’
MOZAMBIQUE
Thousands of Mozambicans took to the streets of the capital Maputo on Thursday in the largest protest yet against the ruling Frelimo party, with police firing tear gas to disperse demonstrators who are furious over alleged fraud in the Oct. 9 general elections, Reuters reported.
Protesters blocked roads with burning tires, chanting “Power to the people” and “Frelimo must fall,” and holding signs supporting opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane.
Late last month, election officials declared Frelimo’s presidential candidate Daniel Chapo as the winner with 71 percent of the vote, a victory that extended the party’s 49-year rule.
However, Mondlane countered he was the real winner and called for demonstrations protesting the results. He called the protests a “crucial moment,” saying that the country is on the verge of a “unique historical and political transition.”
Frelimo has faced previous accusations of vote-rigging. This time around, many Mozambicans are angered by what they see as a manipulation of the democratic process.
The Constitutional Council has yet to certify the results and ordered the electoral commission this week to clarify discrepancies in the counts across presidential, legislative, and provincial races.
The unrest has sparked concerns among human rights groups, who warned that police crackdowns on protesters have led to as many as 24 deaths since the election.
Authorities have reportedly also shot into the crowds, leading the Mozambique Bar Association to warn of potential “bloodbaths” if violence escalates, Al Jazeera added.
The demonstrations have also attracted regional and international attention, with United Nations officials urging authorities to avoid using force, while criticizing the government’s Internet restrictions that were imposed to curb public criticism.
On Thursday, South Africa closed its main border with Mozambique, advising its citizens to avoid non-essential travel.
Making an Example
AUSTRALIA
Australia’s government will introduce a “world-leading” social media ban for children under 16, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Thursday, in an effort to combat the platforms’ harmful effects on young people, Sky News reported.
The bill, expected to be introduced in parliament later this month, will require platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X to enforce the age limit.
Companies will be required to create systems preventing under-16 access, with no responsibility placed on parents or children. There are no exemptions for parental consent or existing accounts, but some platforms, such as YouTube, may receive exceptions for educational use.
Once passed, platforms will have a one-year grace period to implement age restrictions, with financial penalties for non-compliance.
Albanese said the proposed law will be introduced in parliament this month.
The proposal would make Australia one of the strictest countries globally in regulating youth access to social media. Albanese cited widespread concerns among Australian parents about children’s safety online, with reports of cyberbullying, body image issues and exposure to unwanted content.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has pledged to respect the proposed age restrictions, though its representatives warned that poorly designed regulations could be ineffective without thorough implementation.
Meanwhile, the Digital Industry Group (DIGI) – which represents tech firms such as Meta, TikTok, and Google – criticized the ban, suggesting it could drive children to unregulated online spaces and limit their access to mental health resources.
The group advocated for “age-appropriate spaces” and improved digital literacy instead of an outright ban.
Australia’s proposed ban follows recent international moves to restrict youth access to social media, Agence France-Presse added.
Spain recently introduced an under-16 social media ban, while the US state of Florida is set to implement a restriction targeting those under 14 in January.
France and China have also passed similar measures, requiring age verification or time restrictions for minors.
The new ban comes as Australian officials have stepped up regulatory actions on tech firms, including a 2023 bill to combat misinformation and a ban on non-consensual “deepfake” content.
DISCOVERIES
Lost in Translation
When thinking of endangered languages, it’s often expected that they are spoken in remote corners of the globe, in communities that are closed off from much of the rest of the world.
“You go to some distant mountain or island, and you collect stories,” the academic Ross Perlin says, detailing how these languages have been historically studied, according to the New York Times.
But the reality is that many of the world’s lost languages are being spoken in large, cosmopolitan cities. According to Perlin, there are more endangered languages spoken in and around New York City than have ever existed anywhere else.
As a result, Perlin and other linguists at the Endangered Languages Association (ELA) located in Manhattan, set out to map the almost obsolete languages that were being spoken in New York City in 2016.
Since the beginning of the project, the ELA has located speakers of more than 700 languages and pinpointed the most isolated surviving language communities.
Last week, Perlin claimed a prestigious £25,000 book prize (more than $32,000) from the British Academy for the book “Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York.”
In his book, reviewed by the New York Times, Perlin reiterated that the reason why linguistic minorities “have been overrepresented in diaspora” is because they are “hit hardest by conflict, catastrophe and privation and thus impelled to leave.”
Now, Perlin is shifting his focus to another urban jungle with a history of migration: London.
“London may well now be second only to New York in the number of endangered languages spoken,” Perlin told the Guardian.
Perlin aims to start working on a mapping project with British researchers that would locate speakers of the city’s most at-risk languages in the hope of saving them.
“It is vital to protect and understand the diversity of languages spoken in a city because of the human knowledge and culture they hold,” he added.
He believes that mapping the languages would be “very useful” for London, cautioning that the British capital is influenced by similar economic pressures that threaten language elsewhere.
“As in New York, some of the language diversity has now been pushed out by the high cost of housing, and this creates other pockets of small language groups in other parts of the country,” he explained.