Weekend Box: Murdoch testifies, EU corruption & more
Welcome to the Weekend Box, Audley’s weekly round-up of interesting or obscure political, business and cultural news from around the world.
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MURDOCH’S MEDIA DOMINION IN DANGER
The outsized role that Fox News plays in American life may be under threat, due to creator Rupert Murdoch’s once-slavish devotion to one of New York’s most infamous sons. Murdoch’s willingness and Fox’s to promote the so-called ‘Big Lie’, that President Biden had somehow stolen the 2020 election from the true victor Donald Trump, has landed him at the centre of a court case that threatens to undermine the very future of the brand he has taken so long to build.
The case centres on a little-known Canadian company called Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion’s machines were used to count the votes in 28 States during the 2020 election, including the critical swing states of Georgia and Wisconsin. Thus, and for reasons best known to the protagonists, Dominion became the focal point for claims that millions of votes had been wrongly allocated to President Biden rather than the Republican candidate Donald Trump. This lie, promoted by Trump supporters such as Rudy Giuliani, was championed by talking heads on Fox News, which now finds itself at the centre of a $1.6bn lawsuit as a result.
Murdoch himself was deposed to give evidence in the case this week, and there are signs that Dominion won’t stop there. The company seems determined to dig into what it sees as a long history of disinformation promoted by the channel. In short, they are not going to go away quietly.
Murdoch has long since dumped former president Trump and has turned his affections towards challengers such as Ron DeSantis instead. But the hangover from the 2020 election continues to leave a bitter taste in the media mogul’s mouth. As he sat down to answer questions from prosecutors this week, perhaps he reflected on the title of the seminal Trump book written by an author from the rival New York Times in 2018.: Everything Trump Touches Dies.
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IRAN REGIME’S REIGN OF TERROR
As predicted in our previous coverage of the mass protests in Iran following the death in custody of 23-year-old Mahsa Amini, the Iranian state has been waging a concerted effort to crush the protests and silence the popular support for them. While such efforts have ultimately snuffed out previous insurrections, this one continues, thanks to publicity and international condemnation that the regime can’t seem to contain.
Recently, the regime has resorted to executions to maintain its control. Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani has been sentenced to death for allegedly taking part in an ‘armed riot’ in which three security agents were killed in September. The 26-year-old, who played at under-16 level for the national team and recently at FC Iranjavan Bushehr, has been accused of ‘assisting in moharabeh’, meaning ‘enmity against God’; a capital crime in the Islamic republic. His sentence has been condemned by the professional footballers’ union FIFPRO as well as the former Iranian international footballing star Ali Karimi, a vocal supporter of the protests.
Nasr-Azadani’s supporters have good reason to be worried: two other young male protesters, Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, have already been executed, also for ‘moharabeh’ and other dubious charges of assaulting or killing members of the regime’s Basij militia. Rahnavard was hanged publicly from a crane, a method widely used since the Iranian Revolution to set an example. Amnesty International has identified 20 other people at risk of execution in connection with the protests. However, in some cases, international outcry and social media campaigns are having an impact, with protestors such as 17-year-old Sonia Sharifi escaping execution.
While the Iranian regime recently disbanded the ‘morality police’ who killed Mahsa Amini, it has otherwise doubled down on trying to suppress the protests while ignoring the international condemnation. In response, sanctions are being tightened to include regime individuals and the UN Human Rights Council has agreed a mission to probe human rights violations in Iran. As US ambassador to the UNHRC Michele Taylor commented, "Iranian officials will not be able to perpetrate this violent crackdown anonymously. The international community is watching."
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EU’RE NICKED!
Suitcases of cash, an indefatigable investigator and a senior politician caught red-handed. You would be forgiven for thinking this was the plot of a crime thriller, not a day in the European Parliament.
Following multiple arrests and house searches, including the homes of two MEPs and a former MEP’s family, a Belgian judge has charged four unnamed people with “participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption.” In one of the biggest scandals to hit Brussels, police have seized nearly $1.5m cash allegedly used by a ‘Gulf state’, believed to be Qatar, to influence the Parliament’s decisions. In the words of Belgian investigation judge-cum-crime writer Michel Claise: Bingo!
One name that has been leaked is EU Vice-President Eva Kaili, who was unanimously stripped of her title on Wednesday by fellow MEPs. The ex-presenter, who was found with ‘bags of cash’, has denied any wrongdoing and will face the courts next week after delays from staff strikes (very European). While EU Roberta Metsola said there will be no impunity for those found guilty, far-right critics of the EU such as Marine Le Pen and Viktor Orbán are sharpening their pitchforks and calls for reform are in the air.
However, it is not just the EU’s credibility on the line. The scandal comes as Qatar is the centre of world attention, with the World Cup final on Sunday. It also comes as the Parliament plans to allow visa-free travel for Qataris, which has now been put on hold.
As we’ve seen over the past few weeks, football has been a soft-power battle, with Qatar scrambling to burnish its image. Reports that Qataris had been buttering up MEPs with World Cup tickets and free trips to soften their criticism about the country’s labour and human rights record is not an approach documented in PR handbooks. As both Qatar and EU officials frantically try to escape the quicksand of criticism and France and Argentina gear up to play, it’s looking like two red cards.
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NO MORE WORDS IN PRIVATE
As the Government’s Online Safety Bill continues its slow crawl towards a watered-down enactment, this week the Times and The Sunday Times took matters into their own hands. In a letter to readers about their new policy on digital comments, the papers explained that commenters will no longer be allowed to select their own usernames and will be required to post under their real names.
Their reasoning? “We believe this is the best way to ensure high-quality participation”. The Times view is that you should know who you are speaking to, rather than debating with a pseudonym. In their words: “We want to present an alternative to social media, where animosity is too often protected by anonymity.” The inevitable impending story about the rate at which commenting drops off a cliff will be an interesting read.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart told The Telegraph he was prepared to see the app blocked in the UK if the possibility of end-to-end encryption is removed. The Online Safety Bill, in its current form, would enable law enforcement to access encrypted messages on platforms like Cathcart’s. He believes this is a threat to personal privacy, likening the conversations of the 40m UK WhatsApp users to those in the home.
Two very different responses to the privacy debate, but these are from two very different platforms. One is designed to ensure “quality and civility of debate,” and the other the opposite (at best). As the Online Safety Bill with its many amendments (and more likely to come) has shown, when it comes to internet privacy, it’s truly impossible to please everyone.
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JINGLE BELLS & SINGLE SALES
Dependable as the seasonal cold, Christmas music is filling the air, and with it comes the inevitable question: Which song will be this year’s Christmas #1? Trying for his fifth in a row is YouTuber Mark Ian Hoyle AKA LadBaby who today releases his festive single ‘Food Aid’, a rework of Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ featuring none other than Mr Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis.
Like Hoyle’s previous Christmas #1s, proceeds from ‘Food Aid’ will be donated to hunger charity the Trussell Trust. Describing guest Lewis as "the people's champion,” Hoyle and his wife Roxanne (AKA LadBaby Mum) hope for ‘Food Aid’ to make an impact “in a year when people are struggling more than ever.”
It's possible to look at the Ghosts of Christmas Charts Past as encapsulating the cultural landscape of their time. The run of #1s by X-Factor winners in the 2000s is a reminder of the cultural dominance the programme used to have. Bob the Builder’s #1 at the turn of the millennium with ‘Can We Fix It?’, famous for its shout-along answer of “Yes we can!” in the chorus, was a distillation of the national optimism inspired by the promises of New Labour. Mr Blobby’s #1 in 1993 would take more space than The Weekend Box to explain.
LadBaby’s collaboration with “the people’s champion” will round off a year Lewis spent giving financial advice to a country wracked by the cost of living. Is the single evidence that LadBaby and Lewis are moral compasses for our time?
We’ll have to see how successful the single is, which itself depends on Lewis’ as-yet unproven singing ability. Mariah Carey is always tough competition in the Christmas charts, and Lewis has big shoes to fill given that LadBaby’s last festive single featured Elton John. On the other hand, would we rather hear Lewis’ turn on the mic than another from LadBaby’s other musical collaborator, Ed Sheeran? The jury is out on that...
And that’s it for this week. I hope you found something of interest that you might want to delve into further. If so, please get in touch at cwilkins@audley.uk.com.
For now, that’s the weekend box officially closed.