Venezuelan President Maduro Calls for Boycott of <a href="https://time.news/meta-shares-on-the-nasdaq-double-digit-higher-meta-impresses-with-a-jump-in-profits-dividend-announced-for-the-first-time/" title="Meta shares on the NASDAQ double-digit higher: Meta impresses with a jump in profits – dividend announced for the first time”>WhatsApp
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has called for a boycott of the popular messaging app WhatsApp, alleging that it is being used to threaten government officials and suppress dissent.
Speaking at a Chavista demonstration, Maduro claimed that military, police, and community leaders supporting his controversial re-election have received threats via WhatsApp. He called for a “voluntary, progressive and radical” withdrawal of the application, owned by the American company Meta along with other social networks such as Facebook and Instagram.
“Through WhatsApp they are threatening the Venezuelan military family, the police family, street and community leaders,” Maduro said. “I’m going to break ties with WhatsApp, because WhatsApp is being used to threaten Venezuela and so I’m going to delete my WhatsApp from my phone forever, little by little I’ll move my contacts to Telegram, to WeChat.”
Maduro also accused Instagram of spreading “hatred to divide Venezuelans, to seek a massacre and a division of Venezuela, to bring fascism to Venezuela.”
The president’s remarks come after he previously denounced social media for promoting “division and hatred” among Venezuelans. He called for his security officials to regulate the use of social platforms, where images and videos of protests against his re-election have been disseminated.