page_title: Internet censorship and surveillance in the Americas
section_title:  Venezuela
hierarchical_section_title: Internet censorship and surveillance in the Americas / Substantial censorship or surveillance /  Venezuela
caption_attribution_description: English: Report of social media websites being blocked in Venezuela
context_page_description: This list of Internet censorship and surveillance in the Americas provides information on the types and levels of Internet censorship and surveillance that is occurring in countries in the Americas.
  Detailed country by country information on Internet censorship and surveillance is provided in the Freedom on the Net reports from Freedom House, by the OpenNet Initiative, by Reporters Without Borders, and in the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices from the U.S. State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. The ratings produced by several of these organizations are summarized below as well as in the Censorship by country article.
context_section_description: Rated "partly free" by Freedom House in Freedom on the Net in 2011 (score 46), 2012 (score 48), 2013 (score 53), 2014 (score 56), and 2015 (score 57) and "not free" in 2016 (score 60), 2017 (score 63), and 2018 (score 66).
  Classified by ONI as no evidence of Internet filtering in the political, social, conflict/security, and Internet tools areas in October 2012.
  Access to the Internet in Venezuela continues to be largely unrestricted. The level of self-censorship is hard to evaluate, but the adoption of legislation that could potentially limit Internet freedom has yet to have any damaging effect in practice. As a result, RWB removed Venezuela from its list of countries under surveillance.
  In December 2010, the government of Venezuela approved a law named "Social Responsibility in Radio, Television and Electronic Media" (Ley de Responsabilidad Social en Radio, Televisión y Medios Electrónicos). The law is intended to exercise control over content that could "entice felonies", "create social distress", or "question the legitimate constituted authority". The law indicates that the website's owners will be responsible for any information and contents published, and that they will have to create mechanisms that could restrict without delay the distribution of content that could go against the aforementioned restrictions. The fines for individuals who break the law will be of the 10% of the person's last year's income. The law was received with criticism from the opposition on the grounds that it is a violation of freedom of speech protections stipulated in the Venezuelan constitution, and that it encourages censorship and self-censorship.
  In November 2013 the Venezuelan telecommunications regulator, CONATEL, began ordering ISPs to block websites that provide the black market exchange rate. ISPs must comply within 24 hours or face sanctions, which could include the loss of their concessions. Within a month ISPs had restricted access to more than 100 URLs. The order is based on Venezuela's 2004 media law which makes it illegal to disseminate information that could "sow panic among the general public".
  Starting on 12 February 2014 the Venezuelan government blocked users' online images on Twitter. The move appears to be an attempt to limit images of protests against shortages and the world's highest inflation rate. Clashes between opposition-affiliated students and armed pro-government socialist collectives left at least three dead, 66 injured, and 118 under detention. It was reported that the image blocking had ended by the morning of 15 February.
  In May 2015, Juan Carlos Alemán, a Venezuelan official speaking on television, announced that the Venezuelan government was in the process of removing the use of servers from Google and Mozilla and using Venezuelan satellites in order to have more control over the internet of Venezuelans.
  According to Spanish newspaper El País, CONATEL verifies that ISPs do not allow their subscribers to access content which is "an aggression to the Venezuelan people" and "causes unstabilization", in their criteria. El País also warns that Conatel could force ISPs to block web sites in opposition to the government's interests. It was also reported by  El País that there will be possible automations of DirecTV, CANTV, Movistar and possible regulation of YouTube and Twitter.
  Following the election establishing the 2017 Constituent National Assembly, the president of the assembly Delcy Rodríguez decreed that there will be "regulation of the emission of messages of hatred and intolerance (and) strong penalties when it is in presence of a crime of hatred and intolerance", singling out opposition politicians while also threatening those who criticized her brother, Jorge Rodriguez. On 8 November 2017, the pro-government Constituent National Assembly approved of increased censorship that would close media organization that promote "hate and intolerance".
  By 2017, Freedom House declared in its Freedom on the Net 2017 report that Venezuela's internet was ranked as "not free", citing the blockage of social media 
caption: NetBlocks showing blocks of Instagram, Twitter and YouTube in Venezuela on 21 January 2019
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