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Twitter organizes Chavez's opposition
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Despite losing nearly every privately owned TV station and over 200 radio stations, Venezuelans have found a new way to organize their political protests: Twitter. One of the greatest hurdles confronting the political opposition in Venezuela is group cohesion and organization, but through the expansion of social networking on the internet, Venezuelans and their international counterparts have found a new way to voice their concerns. Under President Hugo Chavez, Venezuelans have experienced dramatic limitations on their freedom of expression; not only is Chavez responsible for silencing critical media sources, but he has also engaged in out-right discrimination against those who oppose his policies. In response to Chavez’s intolerance for political opposition, dissidents have rallied in protests, hunger strikes, and more in an effort to reclaim their country’s freedom of expression.
In the face of government crackdown on free expression, Twitter has revolutionized the opposition’s ability to self-organize and to publicize their struggles under the authoritarian regime. Protests and marches against Chavez’s government have been coordinated in Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Britain, France, Italy, Spain, and South Africa via electronic social-networking websites. Some sources even reported that protests organized through Twitter and Facebook extended throughout 30 countries.
On Twitter, the hashtags #freemediave, and #nomaschavez (no more Chavez) have rallied and organized an international presence that opposes Chavez’s unprecedented restrictions on free speech, press, and expression. Twitter’s unique appeal may be that it offers instantaneous updates from students, journalists, and political opposition leaders, such as Caracas mayor, Antionio Ledezma (alcaldeledezma). The advantage of reaching thousands of new listeners as well as continuous connectivity to like-minded counterparts is paramount in establishing a unified movement. In one recent Twitter protest against the Chavez government, #freemediave occupied nearly 1% of Tweets at the time.
In response to the massive amount of tweets criticizing the government’s crackdown on freedom of expression, Chavez declared the Twitterers “traitors," and the government newsources stated that Twitter has started "a new channel to create terror." However, his rhetoric is unlikely to stop at name-calling: in August, Attorney General Luisa Ortega announced that freedom of expression “must be limited,” through an upcoming bill on “media crimes.” Although the bill has yet to be passed, concerns for undue limitations on press and expression continue to disquiet a vast number of Venezuelans.
Under Article 5 of the Law of Media Crime, it states: "any person who releases false news in the media that causes serious public disorder, fear and anxiety among the population, or damages to state institutions" will be given a jail term of two to four years. Removing the public’s ability to conduct country-wide debate on everything from political alliances, to international criticism and domestic policy is an enormous indicator of Venezuela’s increasing tendency for totalitarianism.
Given the dynamic nature of social networking, Chavez’s government will have difficulties effectively repressing oppositional expression. For the time being, Venezuelans have a unique means of connecting with a large international audience– who has the option to spread their message farther.
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