Venezuela, like Uganda, is only democratic in the book. Under the presidency of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan government has enforced authoritarian laws that deprive citizens of their freedom of speech and democratic rights. The violation of human rights and introduction of impractical government and election process has affected citizens to a great extent. The citizens continually face gas shortages, power outages, transportation crises, and substandard public services. Yet, they have no way to voice their problems as the government has censored many media houses and news platforms. The Extent of Censorship in Venezuela The Venezuelan government has censored journalism and the internet to control population uprisings and political opposition. These censorships control how much the media shares and limit opposition politicians' rights. Censoring the internet enabled the government to control social media and other websites where people could criticize and question its actions. Access to certain content has also been limited. The following are online platforms blocked in Venezuela and how to access them. Independent Online Media The Venezuelan government has blocked several independent media platforms following their coverage of anti-government demonstrations and the killing of demonstrators by the state police. In 2018, Venezuela's National Telecommunications Commission blocked three media houses: Capitolio TV, VPI TV, and Vivo Play. Additionally, the three outlets of the El Pitazo news media have been blocked by Intercable, ISPs CANTV, Movilnet, Digitel, and Movistar. Independent news media like the investigative journalism website Armando.info, La Patilla, and El Nacional have suffered the same fate. Political Criticism Blogs and Websites Multiple political criticism websites and blogs have also suffered censorship by the Venezuelan government. Blogs run by activists and criticizers of the government who tried updating the public on police brutality and corruption got blocked by the four leading Venezuelan ISPs. Social media platforms such as Periscope, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, which provided an avenue for people to criticize the government, have also been censored. have verified the rumors that Movistar and CANTV use the Domain Name System to block access to varied social media platforms. Tests conducted by the Open Observatory of Network Interference Currency Exchange Websites Venezuela's economy largely relies on oil exports to sustain the country's high food and social programs subsidies. With the declining oil outflows, the Venezuelan economy is seriously affected, with its social programs and food subsidies suffering greatly. The government's effort to stabilize its currency forced it to reinforce an internal exchange rate system. That way, the government controls all the prices of essential goods and items and, subsequently, the currency's rambling hyperinflation. To sustain its internal exchange rate system, the Venezuelan government blocked access to over 100 currency exchange websites in 2020. However, all hope is not lost as Venezuelans can take advantage proxies. This tool allows businesses to scrape large volumes of data, operate several social media accounts, and analyze the markets to improve their marketing and keep their businesses afloat. With some effort, they will thrive despite the censorship challenges they face. Venezuala location Tor Network Hell-bent on actualizing its plans of preventing all attempts to circumvent censorships, the Venezuelan government also blocked the Tor network. The Tor network uses multiple relays to help users bypass blocks by generating numerous IP addresses to hide the user's identity. It uses the IP addresses of the supported countries to bypass the blocks. However, the Venezuelan government uses more advanced counter-Tor-network mechanisms to thwart all attempts to circumvent the censorships. By blocking Tor networks, it's now impossible for users to dodge censorship. The government-owned CANTV blocked the Tor anonymity network and related proxies. That means residents on blocked currency exchange sites and news media using the Tor browser. But that does not leave one with no option, as many high-quality proxies enable access to all blocked media websites and exchange platforms. cannot access the internet Conclusion The Venezuelan government has been in the limelight for its strict censorship and government-sponsored media and exchange blocks. Although the government has set robust and innovative mechanisms to block circumvention attempts from its citizens and outsiders, it does not mean these censorships are final. In fact, millions of high-quality and affordable proxy IP addresses generated by leading proxy providers can bypass these censorships. You only need to find the right proxy provider with a track record of offering high-quality Venezuelan proxies boasting high uptime and secure networks.

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Websites Censored In Venezuela And How to Access Them

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