The exercise of public authority has always been shaped by the technologies available. From the printing press to the telegraph, radio to email, new inventions have left their mark on how decisions are taken and by whom. This pattern continues in the age of the smartphone, apparently indispensable to the professional lives of today’s officials and politicians. “You need one these days,” the then prime minister Boris Johnson noted during the Covid-19 pandemic, “I need to be in touch with people.” His style of communications would emerge when Dominic Cummings leaked his messages, including one describing the health secretary during the pandemic Matt Hancock as “totally f***ing hopeless”. Subsequent revelations from the period leave the distinct impression that the country is run by WhatsApp.
Britain is hardly alone in this. Concerns about text-message governance reach far and wide. In Brussels, the shadow of “Pfizergate” hangs over the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen ahead of the European Parliament elections in June. The scandal dates to a New York Times piece in April 2021 which claimed the EU’s Covid vaccine deal with Pfizer had been negotiated by a series of messages and calls between her and the company’s chief executive. “That personal diplomacy played a big role in a deal,” said the newspaper. This suggestion of one-to-one negotiation on a high-profile matter prompted calls, notably from the European Ombudsman, for the messages to be made public. The Commission’s failure to do this led the ombudsman to conclude that this was a case of maladministration, and it is still facing lawsuits.
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