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Pro-government hackers hound Venezuelan journalists [View all]
(snip)
“The government tries to silence bad news, and that’s why social networks are now playing a big role,” Luisa Torrealba, coordinator of the Venezuelan branch of the Institute for Press and Society, told CPJ. “They are an escape valve to allow people to learn what’s going on.” Or, as Miguel Henrique Otero, editor of the Caracas daily El Nacional, told CPJ: “With so much self-censorship in Venezuela, Twitter represents freedom of expression.” Often, Venezuelans pass on information and learn about events, such as power outages and oil spills that the government is not eager to publicize, through Twitter, Facebook posts, and blogs.
But the government is also using social media to promote its agenda and to attack its critics. President Hugo Chávez Frías’ Twitter account now has more than 3 million followers, while his ministers regularly announce new measures via Twitter. More ominously, prominent journalists and opinion leaders have had their Twitter accounts hacked, in many cases by a mysterious pro-government group called N33....
...Díaz believes N33 gains access to personal online accounts through collaboration with Venezuela’s main government-run Internet service provider CANTV. N33 has denied any ties to the government. But its actions are often publicized on “La Hojilla” (The Razor), a state-run TV late-night program that regularly lambastes journalists critical of the Chávez government. Neither CANTV nor the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation responded to CPJ email and phone requests for comment.
Otero told CPJ that after his journalist wife’s Twitter account was hacked, friendly government sources assisted him in carrying out his own investigation. Otero said his information indicated the hackers were working from the Caracas office of the national intelligence service, known as SEBIN. Neither SEBIN nor the Ministry of Justice and the Interior responded to CPJ email and phone requests for comment....
Read More: http://www.cpj.org/reports/2012/08/pro-government-hackers-hound-venezuelan-journalist.php
“The government tries to silence bad news, and that’s why social networks are now playing a big role,” Luisa Torrealba, coordinator of the Venezuelan branch of the Institute for Press and Society, told CPJ. “They are an escape valve to allow people to learn what’s going on.” Or, as Miguel Henrique Otero, editor of the Caracas daily El Nacional, told CPJ: “With so much self-censorship in Venezuela, Twitter represents freedom of expression.” Often, Venezuelans pass on information and learn about events, such as power outages and oil spills that the government is not eager to publicize, through Twitter, Facebook posts, and blogs.
But the government is also using social media to promote its agenda and to attack its critics. President Hugo Chávez Frías’ Twitter account now has more than 3 million followers, while his ministers regularly announce new measures via Twitter. More ominously, prominent journalists and opinion leaders have had their Twitter accounts hacked, in many cases by a mysterious pro-government group called N33....
...Díaz believes N33 gains access to personal online accounts through collaboration with Venezuela’s main government-run Internet service provider CANTV. N33 has denied any ties to the government. But its actions are often publicized on “La Hojilla” (The Razor), a state-run TV late-night program that regularly lambastes journalists critical of the Chávez government. Neither CANTV nor the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation responded to CPJ email and phone requests for comment.
Otero told CPJ that after his journalist wife’s Twitter account was hacked, friendly government sources assisted him in carrying out his own investigation. Otero said his information indicated the hackers were working from the Caracas office of the national intelligence service, known as SEBIN. Neither SEBIN nor the Ministry of Justice and the Interior responded to CPJ email and phone requests for comment....
Read More: http://www.cpj.org/reports/2012/08/pro-government-hackers-hound-venezuelan-journalist.php
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