On Sunday, the Venezuelan government accused Facebook Inc of “digital totalitarianism” after it froze President Nicolas Maduro’s page for 30 days for violating its policies against spreading misinformation about COVID-19.
Facebook Reuters said this weekend that it had also downloaded a video in which Maduro promoted Carvativir, a Venezuelan drug he claims could cure the disease without evidence. Facebook said it had followed instructions from the World Health Organization (WHO) that there were currently no drugs to treat the virus.
In a statement Sunday, Venezuela’s information ministry said Facebook was seeking “pandemic-focused content” and described Carvativir as a “national manufacturing and engineering” retrovirus.
“We are witnessing digital totalitarianism exercised by supranational companies that want to impose their law on countries around the world,” the ministry said.
Facebook declined to comment.
Venezuelan doctors have warned that the effect of Carvativir on coronavirus not established. The treatment is derived from thyme, an herb that has been used for centuries in traditional medicine.
Maduro, who has watched an economic collapse since taking office in 2013 and was declared a dictator by Washington and many other Western nations, tweeted Sunday that he would broadcast his daily coronavirus briefing to his wife, the first lady. on Facebook Cilia Flores.
Given the censorship and blocking of Facebook on my page, I announce this today # 28 March the usual weekly balance of the battle against Covid-19 will be broadcast on the Facebook page: “ConCiliaFlores”, as well as in my Instagram, YouTube and Twitter accounts. They will not imprison us! pic.twitter.com/NrEZgjtvPm
– Nicolas Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) March 28, 2021
The South American state reported 155,663 cases of the new coronavirus and 1,555 deaths. These figures are below the levels of many regional counterparts, but the country’s political opposition says the true number of cases is likely to be much higher due to a lack of tests.
© Thomson Reuters 2021
Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, has a double count this week: the OnePlus 9 series and Justice League Snyder Cut (starting at 25:32). Orbital is available at Apple Podcasts,, Google Podcasts,, Spotifyand wherever you get your podcasts.
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