The Mauritius government has placed a blanket ban on access to social media websites ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled to hold on November 10.

The ban, which was announced on Friday by the country’s national communications regulator, will be in force until November 11, the day after the election.

“The ICT Authority wishes to inform the public that in response to concerns regarding illegal postings that constitute a serious threat to national security and public safety, it has received directives in the evening of 31 October 2024, to direct all Internet Service Providers to temporarily suspend access to all social media platforms until 11 November 2024”, the Information and Communication Technology Authority said on Friday.

The move which came amid a wiretapping scandal in the Indian Ocean nation, has however, raised concerns as opposition parties and prominent figures have a ploy by the governing party to avoid defeat at the polls.

Local media say the unprecedented social media ban follows a wiretapping scandal which rocked the country last month when recorded conversations of politicians, business people, and members of civil society were leaked on social media.

According to media freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RWB), the recorded conversations of five well-known journalists were leaked published on social media, prompting the ban.

“The government of the Indian Ocean Island country, which has a population of 1.2 million, has claimed that these leaks are a threat to national security and instructed the communications authority to suspend all access to social media,” the RWB said in a statement.

In response to the bank, network service provider, EMTEL, said it would comply with the directive and user experience will be “progressively disrupted”.

“EMTEL understands the inconvenience that this action shall cause to its customers but reiterates that it has no alternative other than to comply with ICTA directive,” the company said.

Local media also quoted a statement from the office of the Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth, who is seeking a second term in power, as saying that the suspension of social media was essential to protect national security and the country’s integrity.

Miss Universe Nigeria beauty queen, Chidimma Adetshina, is on the verge of losing her South African citizenship as well as her travel documents following a nationality dispute and an alleged identity theft scandal involving her mother.

An official of the South African Department of Home Affairs, Tommy Makhode, on Wednesday, told a parliamentary committee about the plan to withdraw Adetshina’s identity documents.

The Department had been investigating Adetshina’s case after she became a finalist in the Miss South Africa pageant but faced criticism as people questioned her eligibility to compete because of her mother being a Mozambican while her father is Nigerian.

Adetshina who has been at the centre of a fierce nationality row, withdrew from the Miss South Africa beauty pageant in August after the department announced that her mother might have committed “identity theft” to become a South African national, but went on to win Miss Universe Nigeria after she was invited to participate by the organisers.

While appearing before the Committee, Makhode said Adetshina’s mother would also have her documents cancelled as they had both failed to meet Monday’s deadline to provide reasons why they should be eligible to keep them.

Makhode addee that the case had been referred to the Hawks, a special police unit that investigates serious crimes, which had concluded that it was a “case of fraud” – and officials were awaiting on prosecutors about how to proceed.

Meanwhile, many South Africans have petitioned the organizers of the World Miss Universe scheduled to hold in Mexico on November 16 with a view to remove Adetshina from the competition.