AI as protection for opposition media in Venezuela

Since Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro falsified the elections two months ago, the country has experienced a brutal wave of repression. Around 1,500 people, including young people, were arrested and locked up in high-security prisons without a trial. 16 media workers were also detained. Only 4 have been released so far. Anyone who signs their name on a report risks a visit from the secret police. The regime cynically called the arrest offensive “Operación Tun Tun” (door knocking).

“Hello, I’m the ‘Dude,’” says the avatar

Two dozen Venezuelan media and fact-checking platforms have now drawn conclusions. They are now represented by a couple in their mid-twenties. “Hello, I’m La Chama,” says the woman in the brown, off-the-shoulder dress. “Chama” is a young woman in Venezuela. Then the young man in the checked shirt over the white T-shirt comes: “Hello, I’m El Pana” – the buddy.

A slight Venezuelan accent can be heard in the rapid flow of their speech as they continue: “We were created by artificial intelligence. But our content is real, verified, high quality and made by journalists. And we do this because they can’t show their faces. “It’s too risky,” the two explain – in English at the touch of a button. No question, they are avatars, virtual people.

In Latin America, avatars are already available from many online retailers or authorities. But the fact that journalists hide behind such virtual people to protect themselves is new. The Colombian journalist organization Connectas is behind it. She calls the campaign “Operación Retuit”. “The idea is that the avatars’ messages are shared on all possible social networks, thus circumventing the information monopoly in Venezuela,” explains Carlos Eduardo Huertas, the director of Connectas.

Around 100 media professionals are involved in the operation. You send the articles to a central editorial team, which then publishes them on YouTube. In the future, the short videos of the avatars will also be translated into Russian and Chinese – thanks to artificial intelligence. China and Russia are among the regime’s most important foreign allies in Venezuela. The opposition in these countries should see what their support is doing in South America. Huertas says there are also requests from opposition media from other Caribbean dictatorships such as Cuba and Nicaragua, who also want to create avatars to escape repression.

A new strategy to outsmart authoritarian regimes

“This is an original strategy to avoid repression,” says Maria Virginia Marín, political scientist and managing director of ProBox, a Venezuelan media monitor that monitors and evaluates social networks in Venezuela from Washington. So far, she has only seen something like this from journalists from Taiwan who wanted to protect themselves from research by China. The “Retuit” initiative was used very heavily immediately after the elections. “This is a new way to counter authoritarian regimes in our region,” says Marín.

It is not surprising that the media, especially in Venezuela, are looking for new ways to make their voices heard. The left-wing authoritarian presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, who have ruled for 25 years, have systematically restricted freedom of expression and expanded digital repression.

The North American Digital Forensic Research Lab of the democratic think tank Atlantic Council recently published a report on this. Subsequently, Venezuela has become a model for digital authoritarianism, exporting its anti-democratic methods to other countries in the Americas. “Control of information, widespread surveillance and digital repression are important pillars for the survival of the Venezuelan regime,” the report says.

Almost all private media are now in the hands of the regime’s favorites. 400 media platforms have been closed. State censors have long monitored radio and television stations and threatened to shut them down if they broadcast content directed against Maduro. “The secret service analyzes social networks closely,” says opposition journalist Luis Carlos Díaz, who has already been in prison.

The government fears the power of social networks

No wonder: the victorious opposition candidate Edmundo González was still largely unknown a few months before the election. He owes his election victory, which was not recognized by the regime, primarily to communication via private channels such as Whatsapp or X. This also explains why Maduro had the news channel X blocked in Venezuela after the election fraud.

Meanwhile, security forces always look for victims’ smartphones when making arrests. They ask for the access codes and evaluate all communication. Software from China, Iran and Russia helps with this, says social media expert Marín. Using an app that is supposed to be used to report deficiencies in the infrastructure, the government is encouraging the population to denounce fellow citizens who are suspected of supporting the opposition.

At times, the regime itself also had avatars appear: In a specially founded channel called House of News, the virtual people “Noah” and “Daren” praised the alleged economic boom in Venezuela and explained that masses of tourists would now flock to the country. The station has since been discontinued. The regime is trying by all means to spread propaganda or disinformation to counter the information spread on social networks, says Marín.