Venezuela Blocks X for 10 Days After Maduro Accuses Musk of Inciting Hatred

Associated Press
August 9, 2024 | 8:43 pm

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Anabel Uzcategui uses her smartphone at a plaza in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Caracas. President Nicolás Maduro said he has ordered a 10-day block on access to X in Venezuela, accusing the owner Elon Musk of using the social network to promote hatred after the country's disputed presidential election.

Associated Press journalists in Caracas found that by Thursday night posts had stopped loading on X on two private telephone services and state-owned Movilnet.

"Elon Musk is the owner of X and has violated all the rules of the social network itself," said Maduro in a speech following a march by pro-government groups. Maduro alleged Musk "has incited hatred."

Maduro also accused the social network of being used by his opponents to create political unrest.

Venezuela's president said he had signed a resolution "with the proposal made by CONATEL, the National Telecommunications Commission, which has decided to remove the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, from circulation in Venezuela for 10 days so that they can present their documents." Maduro did not provide more details about the process taken against X.

X's press office did not immediately respond to an email from AP requesting comment.

"X out for 10 days! Elon Musk out!" Maduro said.

The president's announcement comes after Maduro and Musk exchanged accusations over Venezuela's disputed July 28 presidential election. Electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner but have yet to produce voting tallies. Meanwhile, the opposition claims to have collected records from more than 80 percent of the 30,000 electronic voting machines nationwide showing the winner was their candidate, Edmundo González.

Musk used the social network to accuse the self-proclaimed socialist leader of a "great electoral fraud." "Shame on the dictator Maduro," Musk said on Monday in a post.

Since the election, Maduro has expressed the need to "regulate" social networks in Venezuela. Maduro also denounced that the social platform was used by his adversaries to threaten the families of his followers and political allies, military personnel, and police officers and to generate a state of anxiety in Venezuela.