On Thursday, August 8th, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that within the next 10 days, access to the social media platform X will be prohibited in Venezuela.
Maduro stated that he signed a resolution submitted by the regulatory agency to ban access to the social media platform X in Venezuela within 10 days. He also claimed that the owner of X, Musk, was inciting hatred in the country.
On July 28th, Venezuelan election authorities announced that Maduro won the 2024 presidential election with approximately 51% support, but specific voting statistics have not been disclosed yet.
The opposition led by Maria Corina Machado stated that they have copies of the voting statistics showing their presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez winning over 7 million votes, while Maduro only received 3.3 million votes. This aligns closely with independent exit polls predictions.
The Venezuelan presidential election sparked massive protests and condemnation. Protesters believe that opposition candidate Gonzalez won the election and are demanding Maduro to step down.
Several governments including the United States, Argentina, and Chile have refused to recognize Maduro’s claimed election victory and urged for increased transparency and disclosure of the voting results.
Maduro accused Musk of being the mastermind behind the post-election large-scale protests in Venezuela. The temporary ban on X is the latest crackdown by the Maduro government on social media.
Earlier this week on Monday, August 5th, Maduro urged supporters to delete Meta’s encrypted messaging app WhatsApp and switch to WeChat, claiming WhatsApp was being used to threaten the families of soldiers and police.
Maduro claimed that over 2,000 protesters have been arrested since the presidential election. Human rights advocates state that those arrested were peaceful demonstrators targeted by the Maduro regime.
“The voice of Venezuelan voters will not be silenced by censorship or false information. The world is watching,” said Brian A. Nichols, the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, on X.
Previously, the governments of Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil issued a joint statement calling once again for Venezuelan election authorities to disclose specific voting statistics.
On Thursday, August 8th, opposition leader Machado released a statement urging Mexican President Lopez Obrador to confront Maduro, making it clear that negotiating with the opposition is Maduro’s best choice.