An NGO found in the Twitter measurements of 2021, which were extended to Cuba and Nicaragua, that these three regimes cooperate with each other to impose their narratives on social networks, replicate patterns of censorship, manipulation of digital platforms and laws that justify persecution politics
the digital observatory pro boxwhich monitors and analyzes the sociopolitical conversation of Twitter trends in Latin America, mainly in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, published its report last year, entitled: «Twitterzuela 2021: Propaganda and disinformation as State policy».
With respect to Venezuela, it recorded 1,969 sociopolitical trends in this social network between January and December, which totaled approximately 223,952,710 tweets; which represents 59 trends less than in 2020, but 65.32% more messages.
The main actor in the conversation on Twitter last year was the ruling party; since it promoted 1,196 of the 1,969 trends of the year and its messages represented 92.43% of the total conversation.
According to the study presented by Probox, the civil society was the second category with the most trends, positioning 351 that generated 0.88% of the tweets in 2021. In third place is the category “others”, especially identified by international labels (218 trends, with more than 14.4 million of messages).
As for the labels, Probox determined that #AristobuloForever, promoted by the Ministry of Communication and Information due to the death of the former Minister of Education, was the biggest trend of the year with some two million messages.
“This is how we remember you, CIMARRON MAYOR! with the strength of your spirit that will remain forever in the soul of the people.” #AristobuloForever HONOR AND GLORY! pic.twitter.com/aAeCoOUElD
– G / J Jesús Suárez Chourio (@GeneralPueblo) April 27, 2022
Later, #ChambaJuvenilProduciendo was the most inorganic label with 96.6% of its messages generated inauthentically and was also promoted by the Ministry of Communication.
The label that came in third place was #VaccinesForVenezuelans, promoted by civil society. Probox ensures that this was the most authentic conversation on Twitter and 99.87% of its tweets came from real users. Then the #SinLuz tag was positioned, which was the most repeated of the year, positioning itself 28 times in 2021.
Committed to the health of Venezuelans, we demand:
Vaccination plan
Vaccines of proven quality
Competent vaccination teams
Safe vaccination with planning
Respect and tolerance
Third Age Assistance#VaccinesForVenezuelans #VaccinesWithoutCarnet pic.twitter.com/OYeSa9xxx3– Civic Forum (@ForoCivicoVzla) June 3, 2021
Of the total number of messages written and disseminated on Twitter last year, only 7.57% belong to actors other than the ruling party, says Probox.
In the same way, this digital observatory explains that as Twitter has become one of the main windows to get information, organize protests and denounce the reality of the country; That is why «the communicational hegemony of the State in traditional media is also gaining more and more space in the digital world through the use of automated accounts and coordinated user accounts, called ‘troops’, with the intention of manipulating the conversation».
Probox found in the 2021 measurements, which were extended to Cuba and Nicaragua, that these three regimes cooperate with each other to impose their narratives on social networks, replicate patterns of censorship, manipulation of digital platforms, and laws that justify political persecution.
Propaganda and disinformation
Within the ruling party, the Ministry of Communication and Information was the main actor in conversations on Twitter after positioning 440 trends and 186,723,429 tweets, which represented 83.4% of the total messages last year.
Probox details that beyond the use of automated accounts or bots, the Ministry of Communication is characterized by the dissemination of its labels through real accounts inauthentically coordinated with each other, which are known as “troops” or “twitterers of the homeland”. 76.82% of the messages were generated in this way.
“Although the Ministry of Communication and Information generates the largest number of tweets, for the most part, these are usually false messages to simulate support for their narratives,” the report highlights.
#19Oct|?? ?️ TAG OF THE DAY! ▶️ #PuebloUnidoYAActive
Venezuela twinned in the face of difficulties! pic.twitter.com/XnulCaX819
— MIPPCI (@Mippcivzla) October 19, 2022
The next trend in 2021 was the covid-19 pandemic with 151 hashtags positioned during the year, totaling around 93,941,511 messages on Twitter.
The other topic that occupied the largest number of trends in this social network was propaganda for the National Armed Forces (FAN) and the National Guard (GN). The hashtags #YoSoyFANB, #GNByPuebloInvictos and #CEOFANB were the most repeated of the year, positioned 15 times each throughout the year 2021.
#27Aug ??♥️ With a sense of patriotism together with MG Ramón Pimentel #CEO supervision and control was carried out on DCR-35-2 #GNBAPURE #ChavezHeartOfThePeople#GNByPuebloInvictos#YoSoyFANB.@NicolasMadur.@vladimirpadrino
.@GNBCmdtGral pic.twitter.com/3ok9zILeIW— G/B. Anderson José Rendón Zambrano (@GBANDERSONREND1) August 28, 2021
The FAN and the GN promoted 322 trends and about 8,097,021 tweets; that is, almost 75% of the total trends of these entities and 68% of their messages last year.
However, Probox explains that at least 43.1% of the messages from these security forces “were made by possible automated accounts or with inauthentic behavior.”
326 trends for Alex Saab
The radical ruling party positioned 326 trends throughout 2021 and 8,380,142 tweets. Most of these trends were related to businessman Alex Saab, an alleged diplomat for the government of Nicolás Maduro, arrested in Cape Verde on June 12, 2020 for money laundering and then extradited to the United States on October 16 last year.
“Of the 326 labels of the radical ruling party, 195 focused on the defense of Saab, generating 64.3% of the messages in this category,” says Probox.
UPDATE! The media war against Alex Saab persists despite the fact that his baseless accusations always fall. family and movement #FreeAlexSaab rejects and advises that they deal with the news, the illegality of US actions. His immunity is inviolable. pic.twitter.com/e6G3RBlBEi
– Vanessa Pineapple ? (@CoralDeMar3) October 19, 2022
The largest number of trends and messages in favor of Alex Saab were recorded in October with 36 tags and at least 1,307,936 tweets; “being a historical record” according to the Probox registry.
However, the ruling party was not the only actor that positioned Alex Saab; since they were also promoted by anonymous networks and the Ministry of Communication and Information.
*Read also Alex Saab’s passport presents alleged “inconsistencies” about his diplomatic position
Protest and social activism
Civil society and different unions organized themselves to use Twitter as a platform for denouncing and demanding their rights, considering the constant persecution and closure of civic space, facing the narrative imposed by the State in the digital space.
The focus was on the violation of human rights and the eight main reasons within the social protest were:
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Contrary to what happened with the ruling party, 76.08% of the messages promoted by civil society were made by real users.
Opposition away from Twitter
Of the 1,969 trends for the year, 136 belong to the Venezuelan opposition, totaling around 375,588 tweets. This represents 291 trends and 84.54% fewer messages than in 2020.
The unitary opposition dominated the conversation of this category with 65 trends that generated 55.1% of the total opposition messages in 2021.
Unity, negotiation and vote, is the way to peace. Defending the vote is the challenge. important step of the #UnitaryPlatform vote in the elections of 11/21/2021 @crc_lara @jguaido @FavlLara @hramosallup @VSinCorrupcion @UNNews @OEA_oficial @insurance_roberto @SolimarBriceno
– Nelly Cuenca (@nellycuenca) September 1, 2021
The opposition parties subcategory was the second with the highest contribution to the opposition conversation with 57 tags, generating 28.9% of the total messages. The radical opposition positioned only 14 trends in 2021, adding 16.08% of the tweets.
Between January and July, the opposition positioned an average of 17 trends per month with 42,782 tweets; Beginning in August, Probox recorded a dramatic drop in the number of trends, with December being the month with the fewest since we began studying sociopolitical conversation with just two tags.
Between August and December, the opposition had an average of three tendencies and 15,223 monthly messages.
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