Internet censorship and blocking worsen in Venezuela

Venezuela has endured over two months of increasingly violent anti-government protests that have been responsible for the deaths of over 50 people. Venezuela increased Internet censorship and surveillance in crisis, when citizens started using SMS messages to share information and coordinate protests, President Maduro ordered an investigation into phone company Movistar, claiming that it was assisting opposition to the government. When protesters then moved to online TV stations, the Venezuelan government censored them as well. Vivoplay.net, elcapitolio.tv and vpitv.com have all been blocked at the DNS level, sparking demands for an investigation. Other websites have reported denial-of-service attacks. The United Nations Human Rights Commission issued a statement condemning ‘the censorship and blocking of information both in traditional media and on the internet’ in April.