This update covers developments relating to the freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression in Mauritius from 1st November 2024 to 31st December 2024.
GENERAL
Elections: landslide victory of opposition amid wire-tapping scandal
On 10th November 2024, about one million voters were asked to elect 62 members of the National Assembly (that counts 70 members in total). The leader of the political party which wins the majority becomes the prime minister. On 12th November 2024, the Office of the Electoral Commissioner announced that the former Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam and his Alliance of Change (ADC) coalition won 60 of 62 seats in the National Assembly. Incumbent Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth quickly conceded defeat.
A few weeks prior to the election, then Prime Minister Jugnauth had secured a historical draft agreement with the United Kingdom in which the sovereignty over the Chagos Islands was ceded to Mauritius. However, this event was overshadowed by a wire-tapping scandal and a subsequent social media ban which provoked outrage (see below). During his campaign, Ramgoolam had promised to enact laws criminalising wiretapping if his alliance won.
Mauritius still scores high on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance even though the general trend observed is an increasing deterioration. Mauritius’s Overall Governance score has deteriorated over the last decade (2014-2023) and has done so at an accelerated pace between 2019 and 2023. Digital freedom is amongst the most deteriorated indicator. According to Democrecy in Africa, one of the direct outcomes of the democratic deterioration is a prevailing culture of censorship and surveillance that has instilled self-censorship, especially on issues that cast a critical opinion of the government.
EXPRESSION and ASSEMBLY
Social media ban ahead of elections
On 1st November 2024, the Mauritian Information and Communications Authority directed internet service providers to suspend access to major online platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X, until 11th November 2025, the day after the general election. The restrictions were ordered following a wire tapping scandal that shook the country. Since mid-October 2024, about 20 leaked conversations involving politicians, police, lawyers, journalists, and civil society members surfaced on social media. In one of these, a police commissioner is allegedly heard pressuring a forensic doctor to modify a report about a death in custody. The released clips indicate the use of mass listening devices and operations that require sophisticated spying software. The Prime Minister’s office justified the suspension of access to online platforms as necessary to preserve national security.
The decision stirred widespread opposition from civil society groups, businesses, and individuals, calling the restriction a dangerous precedent. The #KeepItOn coalition — a global network of hundreds of human rights organisations working to end internet shutdowns — urgently demanded that Mauritius put an immediate end to the shutdown, labelling it “a gross violation of national and international human rights frameworks”. Demand for VPN services, which allow people to circumvent restrictions, soared on 1st November in Mauritius. Members of the political party Linion Reform protested in front of the National Assembly on 1st November 2024.
On 2nd November 2024, the decision to block social media was reversed. The Information and Communications Authority said the ban had been lifted after "consultation with competent authorities". The ban on social media had thus been in place for 24 hours.