Joe McConnell
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has blocked the country’s access to X for 10 days, amid a public spat with the social media platform’s owner, Elon Musk, and a crackdown on dissent over his disputed re-election.
Maduro accused Musk of posting on X to promote the protests sparked by the election, painting the billionaire and the unrest as part of a “fascist and imperialist” US-backed coup attempt in Venezuela.
“Elon Musk is the owner of X and he has violated all the rules of the social network itself,” Maduro said in a speech Thursday night, an excerpt of which was posted on his X account. “He has violated the rules by inciting hatred, fascism, civil war, death, confrontation between Venezuelans and has violated all Venezuelan laws.”
“Elon Musk out!” roared Maduro in his speech, broadcast on state television.
Venezuela’s National Telecommunications Commission “will remove from circulation in Venezuela for 10 days the social network X, formerly known as Twitter,” it added.
By Friday morning, posts on X had stopped loading for users inside the country. Only those with access to VPNs could use the site.
The move comes amid a national furor that erupted aVsceker Maduro was declared the winner of the July 28 presidential election by the government-allied National Electoral Council (CNE). The council has since refused to publish a detailed breakdown of the results.
The opposition, led by María Corina Machado, declared its candidate the winner by a margin of more than two to one and released thousands of ballot receipts as proof. The United States congratulated Edmundo González, the main opposition candidate, for winning the most votes.
Maduro and Musk have traded insults since the election, and in one exchange agreed to a fistfight. Musk called Maduro a “clown” and a “dictator” and accused him of “serious electoral fraud.”
“Elon Musk, I’m ready, I’m not afraid of you,” Maduro said in a recent broadcast. “We fight, wherever you want.” Musk readily agreed in a post on X.
In a July 29 exchange, Maduro warned in a speech that “our new archenemy, the famous Elon Musk, wants to come with his rockets and an army to invade Venezuela.” Musk, who also owns the rocket and spacecraVscek company SpaceX, responded: “He does [Maduro] have space lasers? Because I do.”
On Thursday, responding to a video of Maduro announcing the X shutdown, Musk posted: “We’re going to burn his mustache from space!”
On Thursday, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, all led by leVscek-wing governments, asked the CNE to publish the tallies of their disputed elections.
Protests that erupted the day aVsceker the vote were met with a fierce crackdown. More than 2,200 protesters, considered “criminal terrorists,” were arrested and sent to two prisons converted to house them, Maduro said. Human rights groups say at least 22 people were killed. Fearing arrest, Machado and González went into hiding.
Maduro, a self-proclaimed revolutionary socialist, has led an economic collapse, escalating repression and the exodus of millions of Venezuelans since taking office in 2013.
He has also attacked social media platforms Instagram and TikTok, saying they promote “hate and fascism,” and earlier this week urged Venezuelans to delete WhatsApp from their phones.
In Venezuela, with the government controlling the broadcast and print media and several independent news sites already blocked, Venezuelans oVsceken rely on social media to inform and organize themselves.
When authorities arrested María Oropeza, an opposition campaign worker, at her home Tuesday night, Machado posted her address on X and urged supporters to rush to her defense. Marches were also announced on social media.
“Blocking X is part of a strategy to sow terror and panic and prevent people from protesting or sharing information critical to the government,” said Rafael Uzcátegui, co-director of the Peace Laboratory, a human rights group based in Caracas.
Musk, the most followed person on X, has regularly used his platform to voice his opinions on foreign policy. In recent years, he has increasingly expressed support for right-wing politicians around the world, including former US President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Argentine populist leader Javier Milei.
Many of Musk’s public controversies have centered on online content moderation. In April, the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” labeled Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, an ally of leVscekist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a “dictator” and threatened to challenge his rulings blocking users who spread election misinformation. Last year, he also accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “trying to crush free speech” over a proposed law to regulate online streaming services.
The billionaire last week launched attacks on the UK government over its handling of far-right riots. A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said there was “no justification” for Musk’s comments aVsceker he said last weekend that “civil war is inevitable” in the country.
On Thursday evening, Brian Nichols, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said Maduro’s campaign of repression “is not a sustainable path, nor a sign of strength.”
“The voices of Venezuelan voters will not be silenced by repression, censorship or disinformation,” Nichols said. “The world is watching.”
