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In a context of high political tension such as the one Venezuela is experiencing after the July 28 elections and the presidential inauguration of Nicolás Maduro on January 10, social networks reaffirm their importance in communication and the flow of information as a result of the censorship of traditional and independent digital media. However, these spaces have also witnessed the convergence of criticism and claims for independent media that continue to share information despite having blocked access to their web portals.
The claims come in a context in which at least 10 Venezuelan journalists imprisoned are reported to be in the electoral context and in which most of them have been accused of terrorism . News media, whose pages were blocked by order of Conatel before the July 28 elections, such as Tal Cual, El Pitazo, Efecto Cocuyo and El Estímulo, receive negative comments from followers who consider Edmundo González the legitimate president of Venezuela and demand that he be called so when he is mentioned in a news item.
These comments on social networks discrediting the independent media for not naming Edmundo González as president or for calling Nicolás Maduro president or president are frequent. In response to this, the media have responded.
The newspaper Tal Cual writes the following text at the bottom of some of its news items:
“Journalism in Venezuela is exercised in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments available for the punishment of speech, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade”. This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country”.
The attack is reiterative
At ProBox we conducted an analysis of several publications in social networks that allowed us to verify how independent media in Venezuela are often criticized for their headlines related to how Edmundo González is referred to.
Media such as Tal Cual, Efecto Cocuyo, El Pitazo and El Estímulo, have chosen not to publish any position and to directly name González without any attribution. This has unleashed a wave of criticism.
On October 25, Efecto Cocuyo shared on Instagram a news item about González’s meeting with the president of Wola. This publication received comments such as “PRESIDENTE ELECTO**”.
A report by Tal Cual on Instagram about Edmundo González’s visit to Argentina was also criticized for calling González an “opposition candidate”, as was a publication by El Estímulo in which González was named as an “opposition candidate”.
Examples like this follow. A publication of El Pitazo on January 10 received criticism for calling him “leader of the opposition”. One user commented: “I ask why some media do not call him President of Venezuela. For God’s sake”.
El Pitazo and Efecto Cocuyo are the media that have received the most negative comments regarding news about González. Any note about him in different social networks about statements, visits to countries, meetings, among others, are criticized for not being named “President”.
It is not lukewarmness, it is
The role of independent media in Venezuela has been key in the pre- and post-electoral context. Despite the blockade, persecution and censorship, independent digital media have reviewed what has happened around the elections, the allegations of fraud, protests, marches and the path and strategy taken by the opposition led by María Corina Machado in the midst of a scenario convulsed by repression and the detention of thousands of citizens who have been persecuted and terrorized as part of a policy of the Government of Nicolás Maduro. ,
The newspaper Tal Cual makes it very clear in its footnote that journalism in Venezuela is exercised in a hostile environment. In fact, it names three legal instruments under which freedom of expression is curtailed. The laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade” are a triad that is geared to fine, penalize and above all self-censor the independent media that are still working in the country.
Naming Edmundo González as president-elect would be seen, under these laws, as a crime and therefore would entail civil and criminal consequences for the media and its journalists. In an environment in which the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) and the National College of Journalists (CNP) count 10 journalists imprisoned by the regimethe independent media in Venezuela have chosen to be cautious with the forms to avoid further censorship and persecution.
For example, assumptions 3 and 5 of Article 11 of the Law against Facism prohibit those expressions that “denigrate democracy, its institutions and republican values“. This assumption is so generic that it directly threatens any type of expression related to matters of public interest or related to officials representing the State. If we consider that in Venezuela there is no separation of powers and that Nicolás Maduro was sworn in on January 10, appointing González as president would bring criminal consequences for the few media that can still report from the country.
Among the consequences of this law, for example, criminal penalties ranging from 6 to 12 years imprisonment are established for those who incur in the practices described in Article 11, as well as those who advocate “the elimination of constitutional rights and guarantees”.
Despite censorship and persecution, Venezuelan independent media continue reporting what is happening and continue strengthening the fight against disinformation and generating alliances such as “La hora de Venezuela”, in which independent media and civil organizations joined forces to strengthen efforts in such an adverse environment. Making these decisions to continue working for the daily events has caused them to be blocked, censored and persecuted by the regime.
At this moment, the NGO VeSinFiltro reports the blocking of at least 60 news sites, 8 activism and human rights sites, X/Twitter, streaming and multimedia platforms, Signal, the sites of 22 VPN and Tor services, well as the temporary blocking of TikTok, Telegram and Google’s public servers.
In Venezuela, citizens, journalists, organizations and independent media are essential allies in the struggle to confront censorship and keep the defense of human rights alive. Far from being enemies, these media confront the disinformation of the Maduro regime and amplify the voices of civil society, often being the only reliable source of information for citizens inside and outside the country. Thus, Venezuelan independent journalism needs the support of citizens to be able to replicate truthful information and reach the corners where the regime’s disinformation and propaganda seek to dominate the conversation and manipulate reality.
