Join the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab on July 22nd from 9:00-10:00 am ET for the launch of “Venezuela: A Playbook for Digital Repression.” 

The report is a comprehensive study of how Venezuela has become a model for digital authoritarianism and an exporter of democratic backsliding to the rest of the Americas in the last twenty-five years. This research is a crucial resource for understanding the digital authoritarian model in Venezuela.  

In the study—spanning 2021 to 2024—the authors document and analyze the multifaceted Venezuelan digital authoritarian model. The findings reveal a sophisticated and massive surveillance apparatus encompassing a digital ID, extensive data-gathering applications such as mobile apps and integrated databases, street video surveillance, and pervasive phone and social media communication monitoring. Moreover, the research exposes state-sponsored information operations that transcend domestic borders, targeting audiences in other Latin American countries, the United States, Africa, and Europe. The study further highlights systematic violations of citizens’ rights within digital spaces, primarily directed at human rights defenders, journalists, and female and LGBTQI politicians. Additionally, the authors shed light on the mechanisms of internet censorship, state-sponsored phishing attacks, and the potential for shutdowns in the lead-up to elections.  

Jason Marczak, Vice President and Senior Director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, will deliver welcoming remarks highlighting the Atlantic Council’s combined efforts in promoting pathways for democratization in Venezuela. 

Ben Rowswell, who served as Canada’s ambassador to Venezuela from 2014 to 2017, will deliver opening remarks. Currently, Rowswell is leading the Network for Democratic Solidarity, a nonprofit organization that focuses on facilitating greater alignment of responses to threats to democracy and strengthening the global democracy agenda.  

The report authors, Andrés Azpúrua, executive director at VE Inteligente; Daniel Suárez, research associate at the DFRLab; and Iria Puyosa, senior research fellow at the DFRLab, will present their findings, discussing how changes in news distribution in response to censorship and the rise of messaging apps for accessing political information have shaped the information environment in Venezuela in the lead-up to the July 28 elections.   

Following the presentation of the report’s main takeaways, journalist John Otis, who won the  2024 Maria Moors Cabot Prize for his outstanding work investigating press censorship in Latin America, will moderate an expert panel. The panelists will be Tamara Taraciuk, an expert in human rights and crimes against humanity, John Polga-Hecimovich, an expert in Latin American politics and authoritarian regimes, and Adam Fivenson, an expert on information space integrity.

Carrie Filipetti, the Vandenberg Coalition executive director, will deliver the closing remarks. Filipetti has been instrumental in shaping the bipartisan debate on US foreign policy towards Venezuela, advocating for a peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis.  

The launch will be six days before Venezuelans will vote in presidential elections that, although not entirely free and fair, pose a window for transition toward democratization. The report’s findings are particularly timely and relevant in this context, as they shed light on the digital repression and authoritarian tactics that could influence the presidential election’s outcome.    

In conversation with

Adam Fivenson
Senior Officer for Information Space
National Endowment for Democracy

Andrés Azpúrua
Executive Director
VE Inteligente

Ben Rowswell
Convenor
Network for Democratic Solidarity

Carrie Filipetti
Executive Director
Vandenberg Coalition

Daniel Suárez
Research Associate
Digital Forensic Research Lab
Atlantic Council

Iria Puyosa
Senior Research Fellow
Digital Forensic Research Lab
Atlantic Council

Jason Marczak
Vice President and Senior Director
Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center
Atlantic Council

John Polga-Hecimovich
Associate Professor
United States Naval Academy

Tamara Taraciuk
Director
The Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program
The Inter-American Dialogue

Moderated by

John Otis
Andes Correspondent
Committee to Protect Journalists

Presented by

The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) has operationalized the study of disinformation by exposing falsehoods and fake news, documenting human rights abuses, and building digital resilience worldwide.

Democracy + Tech Initiative

The Initiative creates policy practices that align global stakeholders toward tech and governance that reinforces, rather than undermines, open societies. It builds on the DFRLab’s established track record and leadership in the open-source field, empowering global communities to promote transparency and accountability online and around the world.

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