An official order from Conatel to lift web restrictions, only 17 information domains partially restored and more than 200 sites that continue to be blocked in Venezuelan territory. These are the dimensions of the crisis of freedom of expression in the country, a panorama where the portal of The National remains blocked for citizens without the use of a virtual private network (VPN).
In this episode of In detaila podcast The Nationalwe analyze the political, technical and legal implications of the recent announcement of digital unlocking, the persistence of the information fence and the demand for full guarantees at the negotiation table.
Key points:
• The scope of the official announcement: the contradictions of the instruction issued by Conatel after the request of the Program for Peace and Democratic Coexistence, and its partial execution by operators such as Cantv, Movistar, Digitel, Inter and NetUno.
• Selective restitution: the diagnosis of the organizations VE Sin Filtro, Espacio Público and OONI on the 17 enabled domains—among them the EFE agency, Effect Cocuyo and El Pitazo—against the more than 60 news platforms that continue to be banned.
• The case of El Nacional: memory on the blockade against the newspaper since 2017, the intensification of the siege after the transfer of its physical headquarters to Diosdado Cabello in 2022 and the continuity of technical restrictions in the digital ecosystem.
• Information in times of emergency: the demand made by the editor-in-chief of The NationalMiguel Henrique Otero, before Conatel after the July earthquakes, highlighting access to information as a vital human need.
• Guarantees and political impact: the demands of the president of the AN elected in 2015, Dinorah Figuera, the promotion of the Manifesto for Freedom of Expression signed by 38 media and 63 organizations and the technical capacity of Conatel to end the blockades immediately.
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