Maduro Announces Ten Day X Ban Across Venezuela

Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, announced that the government will initiate a country-wide ban on the social media platform X on Thursday. The president stated he signed a proposal submitted by the National Telecommunications Commission to suspend the social media platform for ten days "to present their collections and establish the definitive measures.".The move to enact a temporary ban on X follows large-scale demonstrations from opposition voters following a contested election between Maduro and the opposition alliance known as the Unitary Platform. Those opposed to Maduro's victory, which was announced by the National Electoral Council on July 29, point to the government's failure to publish electoral tally sheets, while the opposition has published 80 percent of all tally sheets that show an opposition victory in the presidential election..Since then, opposition parties, figures, and voters have taken to X to document a series of alleged abuses against demonstrators and political figures alongside calls for protestors to remain active within the nation by both the leader of the Unitary Platform, Maria Corina Machado, and the alliance's presidential candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia..The temporary ban on X is further evidence of Maduro's continued efforts to silence opposition within Venezuela, limiting both the ability for demonstrators to organize and limiting information entering and leaving the country regarding the disputed election.