June 12, 2004
Berlusconi's wake up call to voters angers left
The Italian left is crying foul after the office of the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, sent 56 million text messages to mobile telephones urging their owners to turn out to vote in tomorrow's European and local elections, reports The Guardian. (cf yesterday's post).
"The left claimed that the mass texting was a breach of Italy's electoral rules and a violation of its privacy laws.
But last night some opposition politicians were comforting themselves with speculation about a possible boomerang effect.
Many of the messages arrived in the night, activating the alarms of hundreds of thousands of mobiles and waking their owners. More than 90% of Italians own a mobile phone. The left claimed that the mass texting was a breach of Italy's electoral rules and a violation of its privacy laws.
"Clearly, the ownership of three television channels and political control of the RAI [Italy's public broadcasting network] are no longer enough for [Mr Berlusconi]," joked one centre-left MP, Roberto Giachetti.
Italian law authorises the government to carry out mass texting "in cases of disaster or natural calamities" and "for reasons of public order or public health and hygiene".
Mr Berlusconi's supporters argued that a decree authorising the move, signed by the interior minister, Giuseppe Pisanu, on Thursday, complied with the law because the messages would ensure a steadier flow of voters and thus avert any threat to public order.
A consumers' organisation in the northern city of Bologna, said that it had begun legal proceedings against the mobile operator Telecom Italia Mobile for having released its subscribers' numbers to the government".
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