Politicians believed the illusion of privacy and safety, but government by such apps undermines democracy
The “honeytrap” scandal in Westminster brings to mind Bertrand Russell’s observation about democracy having “at least one merit, namely, that a Member of Parliament cannot be stupider than his constituents, for the more stupid he is, the more stupid they were to elect him”.
For William Wragg’s constituents in Manchester, though, it must come as a consolation to discover that they are not the only ones who could fall for phishing messages, though theirs are more likely to come via email from distressed Nigerian heiresses rather than on encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp, which give its users an illusion of privacy and safety. But while the embarrassment of a few Westminster insiders provides endless opportunities for tabloid amusement, it masks a more serious problem: the way the pathological addiction to WhatsApp of Britain’s ruling elite has undermined democratic institutions and conventions.
