IAPA denounces the collaboration of private telecommunications companies with the Venezuelan government to censor and block online media outlets and to intercept the telephone communications of journalists, opponents, and citizens critical of the regime.
This statement was originally published on en.sipiapa.org on 27 June 2022.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) denounces the collaboration of private telecommunications companies with the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro to censor and block media outlets on the Internet and to intercept the telephone communications of journalists, opponents, and citizens critical of the regime.
In several sections, the IAPA indicated that this collaboration between governments and private companies violates the Declaration of Salta of Principles on Freedom of Expression in the Digital Era. For example, the IAPA document states, “Content blocking and filtering through government controls in the digital space constitutes prior restrain according to the American Convention on Human Rights provisions.” In addition, the Declaration states that “Widespread surveillance is unacceptable” except “in cases where the provisions of human rights conventions are pursuing a legitimate goal.”
On the other hand, the Declaration emphasizes the role of technological intermediaries, warning them that they “must be committed to respect and promote freedom of expression and must not yield pressures from governments and other powerful groups.” Furthermore, it adds, “Their policies and criteria used to restrict content circulation must be clear and transparent” and, “They must also establish good practices to safeguard personal data and the privacy of those persons who utilize their platforms and services.”
A transparency report by the private company Telefónica, Movistar’s parent company in Venezuela, released by the organization Ve Sin Filtro, shows that the telecommunications company carries out massive espionage, telephone interceptions, and digital blockades ordered by the Venezuelan government. The Telefónica document revealed that more than one million telephone or Internet accounts were tapped, and 30 websites were blocked by order of the government in 2021.
The president of the IAPA, Jorge Canahuati, expressed “indignation at the massive violation of the freedom of expression and press freedom of citizens and the media, practiced in collusion with transnational companies to maintain the official information policy of censorship.”
Canahuati, CEO of Grupo Opsa, from Honduras, wondered, “if the same private companies that yield to the political pressures of the Venezuelan government and without any judicial order block Internet sites would be capable of carrying out such actions in countries with democratic governments.”
The chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information and editor of the Argentine newspaper La Voz del Interior, Carlos Jornet, said: “In addition to depriving citizens of their right to be duly informed, the blocking of media sites, threatens the sustainability of newspaper companies since they cannot be a vehicle for advertising messages, their only source of income, which in some cases leads to economic asphyxiation.”
Miguel Henrique Otero, the president and editor of the newspaper El Nacional and Vice-chairman for Venezuela of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, has said that “private telecommunications companies should have coherent policies in all the countries in which they operate.” In his IAPA reports, he said that “companies should comply with international law to protect freedom of expression.”
The IAPA press freedom report of last April denounced: “These blockades are carried out without judicial authorization – in a discretionary and arbitrary manner.” Likewise, the issue was addressed in a conference on “The condemnable cyber aggression against media and journalists,” organized by the organization last February.
Some organizations estimate that more than 110 newspapers were closed or forced to close by the government in the last decade. In addition, a report by IPyS Venezuela indicates that more than five million Venezuelans live in “information deserts,” territories where little or no local information is produced.
Among other local media blocked are the portals of El Nacional, La Patilla, El Pitazo, Armando.info, Efecto Cocuyo, Runrunes and international media such as CNN en Español; Infobae and Todo Noticias, from Argentina; RCN, Caracol TV, NTN 24 and El Tiempo, from Colombia. According to Ve Sin Filtro, in 2021 some 68 portals were interfered with, 45 of them media outlets.
In addition to Movistar and the state-owned Compañía Anónima Nacional Teléfonos de Venezuela (Cantv) and Movilnet, the IAPA has also denounced the actions carried out by the private mobile and Internet operators Digitel, Supercable and Intercable.
