Internet as a Tool at the Service of Authoritarianism
Venezuela Case Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14422/cir.i18.y2020.004Abstract
The popularization of the Internet provides great space for freedom of expression and association, resulting in the increase on access to information by citizens. Furthermore, it is often claimed that there is a causal relationship between the emergence of the Internet and the empowerment of the civil society as well as the advent of democracy.
However, this cyberutopia is frequently challenged by a wide range of states. Facing the conservative dilemma, coined by George Schultz, these governments respond to it by producing propaganda and by establishing control mechanisms instead of shutting down the Internet.
In this regard, the main objective of this paper has consisted in shedding light on how the Venezuelan government is employing the Internet to control dissident movements within their national borders. Extensive research, with a special focus on Twitter, has proved that Chavism has benefitted from the Internet to expand its control on the Net.
Downloads
References
Andrino, B., & Pérez Colomé, J. (2019). Así opera la propaganda venezolana en Twitter. El País. Recuperado de https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2019/02/07/actualidad/1549571078_716504.html
Anduiza, E., Cantijoch, M., & Gallego, A. (2009). Political Participation and the Internet. Information, Communication and Society, 12(6), 860-878. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13691180802282720
Asamblea Nacional Constituyente. (2017). Gaceta Oficial de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela. Obtenido de Ley Constitucional contra el Odio, por la Convivencia Pacífica y la Tolerancia: http://albaciudad.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GO-41.274-_081117.pdf
Bergen, M., Banjo, S., & Ramli, D. (2018). Where Google Still Isn’t. Bloomberg Businessweek, 60-63.
Bremmer, I. (2010). What Information Technology Can and Cannot Do. Foreign Affairs, 86-92.
Brown, R., & Livingston, L. (2018). A New Approach To Assessing The Role Of Technology In Spurring And Mitigating Conflict: Evidence From Research And Practice. Journal of International Affairs, 77-86.
Calingaert, D. (2010). Authoritarianism vs. the Internet. Policy Review, 63-75.
Castells, M. (2001). ¿Comunidades virtuales o sociedad red? En M. Castells, La galaxia Internet. Reflexiones sobre Internet, empresas y sociedad. Barcelona: Plaza y Janés.
Castells, M. (2011). Autocomunicación de masas y movimientos sociales en la era de Internet. Anuarie del Conflicte Social, 11-19.
Chen, A. (2015). The Agency. The New York Times Magazine. Recuperado de https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html
Chun, W. H. (2009). Imagined Networks: Digital Media, Race, and the University. Traces 5: Universities in Translation: The Mental Labour of Globalization, 341-354.
CONATEL. (2010). Ley de Responsabilidad Social en Radio, Televisión y Medios Electrónicos. Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones. Recuperado de http://www.conatel.gob.ve/files/leyrs06022014.pdf
Corrales, J. (2015). El legalismo autocrático en Venezuela. Cuadernos de Pensamiento Político, 69-82.
Corrales, J., & Hidalgo, M. (2013). El régimen híbrido de Hugo Chávez en transición. Desafíos, 45-84.
Corrales, J., & Penfold, M. (2015). The Legacy of Hugo Chávez. En J. Corrales, & M. Penfold, Dragon in the Tropics (pp. 178-203). Brookings Institution Press.
CRBV. (1999). Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela 1999. Recuperado de http://www.minci.gob.ve/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/CONSTITUCION.pdf
Deibert, R., & Rohozinski, R. (2010a). Control and Subversion in Russian Cyberspace. En R. Deibert, J. Palfrey, R. Rohozinski, & J. Zittrain, Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace (pp. 15-34). Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Deibert, R., & Rohozinski, R. (2010b). Liberation vs. control: the future of cyberspace. Journal of Democracy, 21(4), 43-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2010.0010
Denardis, L. (2014). Cybersecurity Governance. En L. Denardis, The Global War for Internet Governance (pp. 86-106). Yale University Press.
Díaz, E., & Murillo, H. (2017). Las cuentas falsas que usa el Gobierno para crear tendencias. El Nacional. Recuperado de http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/politica/las-cuentasfalsas-que-usa-gobierno-para-crear-tendencias_190585
Drezner, D. W. (2010). Weighing the Scales: The Internet’s Effect On State-Society Relations. Brown Journal of World Affairs, 31-44.
Erixon, F., & Lee-Makiyama, H. (2011). Digital Authoritarianism: Human Rights, Geopolitics and Commerce. European Centre for International Political Economy. Recuperado de https://ecipe.org/publications/digital-authoritarianism-human-rights-geopolitics-andcommerce/
Espacio Público. (2018). Portal web El Pitazo sufrió nuevos ataques a sus servidores. Recuperado de http://espaciopublico.ong/portal-web-el-pitazo-sufrio-nuevos-ataques-a-sus-servidores/#.XJDOFyhKjic
Freedom House. (2012). Venezuela. Freedom on the Net. Recuperado de https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2012/venezuela
Freedom House. (2013). Venezuela. Freedom on the Net. Recuperado de https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2013/venezuela
Freedom House. (2014). Venezuela. Freedom on the Net. Recuperado de https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2014/venezuela
Freedom House. (2015). Venezuela. Freedom on the Net. Recuperado de https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2015/venezuela
Freedom House. (2016). Venezuela. Freedom on the Net. Recuperado de https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2016/venezuela
Freedom House. (2018a). The Rise of Digital Authoritarianism. Freedom on the Net. Recuperado de https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/freedom-net-2018/rise-digitalauthoritarianism
Freedom House. (2018b). Venezuela. Freedom on the Net. Recuperado de https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2018/venezuela
Freedom House. (2019). About Freedom on the Net. An annual study of internet freedom around the world. Recuperado de https://freedomhouse.org/report-types/freedom-net
Gladwell, M. (2010). Small Change: Why The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted. The New Yorker. Recuperado de https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-changemalcolm-gladwell
González, M. (2019). Venezuela: Decline and Fall. En M. González, The Ebb of the Pink Tide: The Decline of the Left in Latin America (pp. 107-132). Pluto Press.
Hauer, T. (2017). Technological determinism and new media. International Journal of English, Literature and Social Science, 1-4.
Hindman, M. (2018). How the Digital Economy Builds Monopolies and Undermines Democracy. En M. Hindman, The Internet Trap (pp. 162-180). Princeton University Press.
IPYS Venezuela. (2017). Venezuela | Bloquearon redes sociales durante una hora. Recuperado de https://ipysvenezuela.org/alerta/venezuela-bloquearon-redes-sociales-una-hora/
IPYS Venezuela. (2018). Navegación a la mínima expresión | Condiciones de la calidad de internet en Venezuela. Recuperado de https://ipysvenezuela.org/2018/02/27/navegacion-laminima-expresion-condiciones-la-calidad-internet-venezuela/
Kalathil, S., & Boas, T. C. (2001). The Internet and state control in authoritarian regimes: China, Cuba, and the counterrevolution. Carnegie Endowment Working Papers, 1-21.
Kalathil, S., & Boas, T. C. (2003). Open Networks, Closed Regimes. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Kedzie, C. (1997). Communication and Democracy: Coincident Revolutions and the Emergent Dictators. Santa Mónica: RAND Corporation.
Leiner, B. M., Cerf, V. G., Clark, D. D., Kahn, R. E., Kleinrock, L., Lynch, D. C., Postel, J., Roberts, L. G., & Wolff, S. (2009). A Brief History of the Internet . ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review, 39(5), 22-31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/1629607.1629613
Lucena-Cid, I. V. (2014). El derecho de acceso a internet y el fortalecimiento de la democracia. Revista internacional de pensamiento político, 383-398.
MacKinnon, R. (2011). China’s “Networked Authoritarianism”. Journal of Democracy, 32.
Manetto, F. (2019). La ayuda humanitaria se atasca en la frontera de Venezuela. El País. Recuperado de https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/02/23/america/1550945385_758680.html
Morozov, E. (2009). Iran’s propaganda hits the ‘Spinternet’. CNN. Recuperado de http://edition.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/29/morozov.dicatorships.internet/index.html
Morozov, E. (2011). The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. Nueva York: Public- Affairs.
Plan de la Patria. (2013). Plan de la Patria. Segundo Plan Socialista de Desarrollo Económico y Social de la Nación, 2013-2019. Recuperado de https://observatorioplanificacion.cepal.org/sites/default/files/plan/files/VenezuelaPlandelaPatria20132019.pdf
Prier, J. (2017). Commanding the Trend: Social Media as Information Warfare. Strategic Studies Quarterly, 50-85.
Puyosa, I. (2015). Control político de internet en el contexto de un regímen híbrido: Venezuela 2007-2015. Teknokultura, 12(3), 501-526. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_TK.2015.v12.n3.50392
Puyosa, I. (2018). Contaminación de la agenda pública en Twitter en Venezuela. IPYS Venezuela. Recuperado de https://ipysvenezuela.org/2018/09/24/contaminacion-de-laagenda-publica-en-twitter-en-venezuela/
Puyosa, I., & Chaguaceda, A. (2017). Cinco regímenes políticos en Latinoamérica, libertad de internet y mecanismos de control. Revista de Ciencias de la Administración y Economía, 7(14), 11-37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17163/ret.n14.2017.01
Ravanoglu Yilmaz, S. (2017). The role of social media activism in new social movements: opportunities and limitations. International Journal of Social Inquiry, 141-164.
Rodríguez Andrés, R., & Ureña Uceda, D. (2011). Diez razones para el uso de Twitter como herramienta en la comunicación política y electoral. Comunicación y pluralismo, (10), 89-116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36576/summa.30573
Rojas, E. F., & Poveda, L. (2018). Estado de la banda ancha en América Latina y el Caribe. CEPAL. Recuperado de https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/43365/1/S1800083_es.pdf
Schultz, G. P. (1985). Shaping American Foreign Policy: New Realities and New Ways of Thinking. Foreign Affairs, 705-721.
Shirky, C. (2011). The Political Power of Social Media. Foreign Affairs, 1-9.
Stavridis, A. J., Garza, A. D., Bajekal, N., Nugent, C., Perrigo, B., & Walt, V. (2018). Democracy Will Prevail. Time, 32-39.
Steckman, L. M., & Andrews, M. J. (2017). Online around the World: A Geographic Encyclopedia of the Internet, Social Media, and Mobile Apps. ABC-CLIO.
Tendencias Digitales. (2018). Penetración y usos de Internet en Venezuela. Recuperado de https://tendenciasdigitales.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Penetraci%C3%B3ny-usos-de-internet-en-Venezuela-2018.pdf
Tkacheva, O., Schwartz, L. H., Libicki, M. C., Taylor, J. E., Martini, J., & Baxter, C. (2013a). Key Findings and Policy Implications for Internet Freedom Programsʹ Design. En I. F. Space, Tkacheva, Olesya; Schwartz, Lowell H.; Libicki, Martin C.; Taylor, Julie E.; Martini, Jeffrey; Baxter, Caroline (pp. 203-222). RAND Corporation.
Tkacheva, O., Schwartz, L. H., Libicki, M. C., Taylor, J. E., Martini, J., & Baxter, C. (2013b). The Internet and Political Process in Different Regimes. En O. Tkacheva, L. H.
Schwartz, M. C. Libicki, J. E. Taylor, J. Martini, & C. Baxter, Internet Freedom and Political Space (pp. 17-42). RAND Corporation.
Torres Soriano, M. R. (2013). Internet como Motor del Cambio Político: Ciberoptimistas y Ciberpesimistas. Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos, 127-146
Trak Vásquez, J. M. (2015). La triple crisis de Venezuela. Política Exterior, 144-151. Trendinalia. (2019a). Trendinalia Venezuela 18/02/2019. Recuperado de https://www.trendinalia.com/twitter-trending-topics/venezuela/venezuela-190218.html
Trendinalia. (2019b). Trendinalia Venezuela 23/02/2019. Recuperado de www.trendinalia.com/twitter-trending-topics/venezuela/venezuela-190223.html
Twitter. (2010). @chavezcandanga. Recuperado de https://twitter.com/chavezcandanga/status/12988160900?lang=es
Twitter. (2014). @leopoldolopez. Recuperado de https://twitter.com/leopoldolopez/status/429606326755262466
Twitter.(2019a). @jguaido. Recuperadode https://twitter.com/jguaido/status/1099340492117078018
Twitter. (2019b). @LaPazdemipatria. Recuperado de https://twitter.com/LaPazdemipatria/statuses/1106698480406405121
Twitter. (2019c). @dcabellor. Recuperado de https://twitter.com/dcabellor/status/1099442956463980544
Urribarrí, R. (2011). Redes sociales y medios digitales: ¿alternativa comunicacional en Venezuela? Comunicación: estudios venezolanos de comunicación, 47-52.
Urribarrí, R., & Díaz Hernández, M. (2019). Políticas públicas para el acceso a internet en Venezuela. Inversión, infraestructura y el derecho al acceso entre los años 2000-2017 . Derechos Digitales, 1-45.
Warf, B. (2011). Geographies of global Internet censorship. GeoJournal, 1-23.
Watts, J. (2013). Raid on home of Twitter user suspected of spreading Chávez health rumours. The Guardian. Recuperado de https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/08/twitter-hugo-chavez-health-rumours
We Are Social. (2018). Digital in 2018 in Southern America Part 1 - North. We Are Social. Recuperado de www.slideshare.net/wearesocial/digital-in-2018-in-southern-americapart-1-north-86863727
Yuen, S. (2015). Becoming a Cyber Power: China’s cybersecurity upgrade and its consequences. China Perspectives, 53-58.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The authors of articles published in Comillas Journal of International Relations retain the intellectual property rights over their works and grant the journal their distribution and public communication rights, consenting to their publication under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivates 4.0 Unported. Authors are encouraged to publish their work on the Internet (for example, on institutional or personal pages, repositories, etc.) respecting the conditions of this license and quoting appropriately the original source.
