Venezuela blocked Twitter/X during protests

As of 9th August 2024, X (formerly known as Twitter) is reported to be blocked in Venezuela following the order of president Nicolas Maduro. The president’s order followed mass protests over the results of 2024 presidential elections in Venezuela. On most tested networks, the block remains ongoing.

The following chart aggregates OONI measurement coverage from the testing of Twitter/X on multiple networks in Venezuela between 1st August 2024 to 31st December 2024.

From the above chart, we can see that Twitter/X was previously mostly accessible in Venezuela, only starting to present persistent signs of blocking (through a spike in a large volume of anomalies) since 9th August 2024.

Most anomalous measurements pertaining to the testing of twitter.com presented signs of DNS tampering, such as cases where the private IP 127.0.0.1 or an NXDOMAIN error is returned as part of DNS resolution. OONI data suggests that the block is implemented on at least 18 tested networks, including the biggest Venezuelan providers, such as Airtek (AS61461), CANTV (AS8048), and Digitel (AS264731).

While most ISPs started implementing the block on 9th August 2024 right after president Maduro’s order, on some networks Twitter/X remained accessible until 16th August 2024, or was unblocked several weeks after the beginning of the block.

To limit access to Twitter/X, ISPs in Venezuela blocked eight more different domains responsible for the functionality of the service. These include: api.twitter.com, x.com, upload.twitter.com, abs-0.twimg.com, abs.twimg.com, pbs.twimg.com, video-0.twimg.com, video.twimg.com.

If you are in Venezuela, you can test Twitter/X and contribute more measurements by running OONI Probe.

To learn more about internet censorship in Venezuela during the country’s 2024 presidential elections, please read Conexión Segura y Libre's report “REDES DE CONTROL. Censura y represión digital en las elecciones presidenciales en Venezuela”.