Maduro asks Venezuelans to delete WhatsApp as free world continues to question election results

Venezuelan Chavista dictator Nicolás Maduro said this Monday that the instant messaging application WhatsApp is being used in the country to threaten “he military, police, and community leaders, and asked citizens to eliminate the digital platform in a "voluntary, progressive and radical” way.

“Through WhatsApp, they are threatening the Venezuelan military family, the entire officer ranks, through WhatsApp they are threatening the police family, through WhatsApp they are threatening street and community leaders, through WhatsApp they are threatening anyone who does not speak out. favor of fascism,” Maduro said at an event held by his ruling party.

Maduro asked his followers for the “voluntary, progressive and radical withdrawal” of the application, and proposed other alternatives to communicate, such as the Telegram application.

“I am going to break relations with WhatsApp, because WhatsApp is being used to threaten Venezuela, and then I am going to delete my WhatsApp from my phone forever, little by little I will transfer my contacts to Telegram, to WeChat (...) It is necessary to do it, say no to WhatsApp, get WhatsApp out of Venezuela,” the dictator declared.

Nicolás Maduro rompe relaciones con WhatsApp: "¡Vete pal' carajo!" https://t.co/xggnSADyPS pic.twitter.com/aiyWaP3tlq

— EL MUNDO (@elmundoes) August 6, 2024

According to his statements this Sunday during a televised event, the North American platform Meta, the Chinese social network TikTok and the American Instagram are also the main instruments “multipliers of hate and fascism” in Venezuela.

In this regard, he added that TikTok, owned by the Chinese Zhang Yiming - one of the richest men in the world, according to Forbes, and Instagram, also owned by Meta and created by the Brazilian Kevin Systrom and the American Mike Krieger, have “infected” important sectors of society with “hate,” in a “blatant manner.”

The dictator said in Venezuela there is “no type of national regulation” on the use of networks, which is why he asked the Defense and Security Councils for recommendations on this issue.

The dictator’s statements came just one week after the regime controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) gave victory to Chavismo amid accusations of fraud and debate of the international community.