Caracas, Aug 8 (EFE).- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered on Thursday the blocking of X, formerly known as Twitter, for 10 days while the company presents documents to the authorities.
«X is out of Venezuela for 10 days so they can present documents and determine the final administrative measure, but enough is enough, enough with trying to sow violence, hatred, trying to attack Venezuela from abroad,» said Maduro, who has accused X’s owner, South African tycoon Elon Musk, of being part of a «cyber coup» against him.
He assured that «one day, sooner rather than later, a new social network will be born in Venezuela» to liberate the country «from these people,» Maduro said, referring to the owners of social media platforms.
Earlier this week, the president also lashed out at the messaging app WhatsApp, calling it a «spying system.»
Maduro affirmed that «more than 70 countries have banned the use of WhatsApp by officials, because with this application they spy on the world,» and said the platform is being used to prepare a coup in collaboration with drug trafficking organizations.
The president also lashed out at Instagram and Tik Tok claiming they are being used to promote «division» and «hatred» among Venezuelans.
«I accuse Instagram of its responsibility in the installation of hatred to divide Venezuelans, to seek a slaughter and a division of Venezuela, to bring fascism to Venezuela,» he assured.
The temporary suspension of X could have a significant impact in a country where social media is one of the main sources of information.
Maduro, who was declared the winner of the July 28 elections, has denounced that there is a coup plan to disregard his victory after the results published by the electoral authority were denounced as fraudulent by the opposition, international observers, and foreign governments.
Since July 29, there have been several protests – some of them violent – and police operations that have left 24 people dead, according to the NGO Provea, and more than 2,400 detained, according to the report updated by the president on Thursday. EFE
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