Dutch PM faces pressure over old-school texts

The long-serving Dutch prime minister is in hot water over his low-tech cellphone.

Mark Rutte is facing unusual political and public pressure after revelations that he has been deleting text messages about official matters for years. Critics accuse him of concealing state activity – but he says the messages just took up too much space in his years-old

Nokia phone.

Rutte survived a noconfidence vote in parliament on Friday over the deleted texts, but opposition parties are calling for a further inquiry. Questions have also surfaced over whether his use of the old phone might have jeopardised national security.

In investigating the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant discovered that Rutte had been regularly deleting texts from his Nokia 301 for years.

Rutte, now in his fourth term and among the EU’s longest-serving leaders, also has an iPhone, which he says he only uses to read the news.

He has long been criticised for his secrecy, holding that discussions between government officials should not be publicly available. Rutte tries to limit official business to phone calls or face-to-face meetings where no notes are taken.

His use of the Nokia went against Dutch government guidelines that recommend that users update their devices monthly to minimise cyber threats.