Foreign Affairs

Venezuelan Dictator Suspends Major Social Media Platform After Sparring With Elon Musk

Credit: Steve Jurvetson. Photo of Elon Musk

Venezuela’s dictator Nicolas Maduro temporarily banned X from the country on Thursday after accusing the platform’s owner, Elon Musk, of using it to stoke opposition against him.

Maduro declared himself the victor in the country’s July 28 elections, despite credible concerns that the race was rigged against his political opposition. Musk has been publicly critical of Maduro’s refusal to step down from power, and Maduro has now suspended X from Venezuela in retaliation.

“[Musk] violated all of the rules of the very social network Twitter, today known as X — all of them. And he has violated [the rules], by inciting hatred, fascism, civil war, death and confrontations among Venezuelans, [he] has violated all of the laws of Venezuela,” Maduro said in a televised address on Thursday, as translated by CNBC. The Venezuelan government will “remove the X social network, previously known as Twitter, out of circulation in Venezuela for 10 days,” Maduro said.

Musk and Maduro have sparred in recent days over Maduro’s dubious claim to victory. Taking to X, Musk has accused Maduro of “major election fraud” and said that the Venezuelan people “have had enough of this clown.”

Maduro responded to Musk’s statements in late July by issuing a challenge to fight him, which Musk accepted.

“If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela. If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars,” Musk said in a post on X on July 31.

Maduro is clearly getting high on his own very large supply of drugs.

As a reminder, this is his actual, real DEA reward poster: pic.twitter.com/8HSnlOjwBY

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 2, 2024

Maduro’s refusal to leave power — even as independent vote tally results indicate that his opponent won in a landslide — has sent Venezuela spiraling further into chaos. Protesters have taken to the streets across Venezuela demanding that Maduro step down, prompting law enforcement to intervene and make thousands of arrests.

The U.S. and several Latin American countries have refused to recognize Maduro’s victory as legitimate.

“This is a question about respecting the will of the Venezuelan people. And as we concluded… when you look at the tallies that the opposition made public, it’s clear that even if every outstanding vote came back for Maduro it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the advantage that Edmundo González had,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday.

Featured image credit. Credit: Steve Jurvetson. Photo of Elon Musk