In Venezuela, digital freedom is a threat to Nicolás Maduro

When Nicolas Maduro Prohibitions X and Signal, the role of technology in Venezuela is undeniable. Now more than ever, people's freedom lies in their ability to communicate and access information privately and securely. This is true not only in Venezuela, but also in the United States.

Maduro's repression

“I feel like a Jew in Nazi Germany. The regime's security forces go door to door and arrest human rights activists,” a 21-year-old activist from Barquisimeto in northwestern Venezuela, who wishes to remain anonymous, told me.

His words reflect the terrifying reality for many Venezuelans today. 2,000 activists were arrested by the government in the aftermath of the presidential elections on July 28 – an election that was marked by Maduro’s blatant manipulation to secure his power.

Like the Soviets once did, Maduro encourages people to report citizens who sympathize with the opposition. But unlike before, Venezuelans can use an app called VenApp. The app, launched by Maduro, was originally designed to receive complaints from the public, for example about power outages.

Over the past two weeks, security forces have systematically stopped citizens to search their phones, including photos, social media profiles and WhatsApp conversations. Citizens are often arrested based on content discovered during these searches, such as images or conversations related to protests or anti-government statements.

This shows Maduro's willingness to crack down on dissent. It also shows the critical role of technology in this fight for freedom. We use private messaging apps like Signal to communicate sensitive information. We rely on X and Nostr to share public information with the Venezuelan people. And we use Bitcoin to overcome Maduro's financial surveillance.

The regimes know this, which is why the Maduro government has modernized its surveillance system. They are doing so in cooperation with other autocratic regimes. For example, the Chinese company ZTE has supplied Maduro with advanced surveillance technology. after to non-governmental organizations.

This is also why forbidden X and Signal across Venezuela for 10 days, claiming its opponents were using these platforms to foment political unrest. This unprecedented move in the Western Hemisphere sets a dangerous precedent in the region. It also shows how regimes can restrict critical technologies, including their privacy tools and communications platforms.

Building a technology-based strategy

In today's digital age, privacy technology is not just a tool; it is a critical battleground in the fight against authoritarianism and an indispensable tool in defending human rights. To protect our freedoms – whether information, communication or financial – we must develop and implement a comprehensive strategy based on privacy technology that empowers people living under repressive regimes.

At the heart of this strategy is the promotion and protection of freedom technologies. This includes developing and investing in the decentralized ecosystem of Bitcoin and Nostr, as well as private communication platforms such as X and SimpleX. These privacy tools are lifelines for activists and ordinary citizens, allowing them to bypass censorship, protect their financial autonomy, and organize without fear of surveillance.

Close collaboration between activists and technologists would also help ensure that new freedom tech tools and platforms are developed that take into account the specific needs of the repressed. We need more initiatives that bring together software developers, youth leaders, freedom activists and nonprofits to develop solutions that protect privacy, enable secure communication and enable digital organizing.

But perhaps more importantly, we should call on democratic governments to stop passing laws that undermine freedom and privacy. Laws that undermine our digital privacy are not only incompatible with a free society, they also empower dictators. When democracies undermine people's privacy, they give dictators the legitimacy to do the same.

In the financial sector, for example, governments have enormous power over their citizens' bank accounts. Global regulations to combat financial crime allow governments to arbitrarily block citizens' bank accounts, freeze their assets, and access their banking information – among other measures. This means that every American's financial data can be attacked by states and competitors around the world, including Chinese firms. Most Americans are shocked when I talk to them about this.

Unfortunately, financial laws are abused by regimes to suppress their dissidents at home and in exile. In 2022, for example, the Canadian government the bank accounts frozen of truck drivers protesting against the cross-border vaccination requirement between Canada and the United States. This issue must be addressed urgently. It is a global reform process that my organization, the Economic Inclusion Group, started back in 2023.

A similar situation exists in the Bitcoin space. All over the world, activists in autocratic countries are using Bitcoin to circumvent regime surveillance and repression. Without Bitcoin, they would struggle to receive donations, distribute funds, and maintain a semblance of normalcy in their lives. For them, Bitcoin has become a powerful tool against autocracy.

For this reason, policymakers in the West should encourage and celebrate the use of Bitcoin worldwide, especially as this freedom technology was created and continues to develop in Western democracies. Instead, they remain fixated on concerns that Bitcoin's privacy features could enable criminal activity and money laundering. While this claim refuted These concerns are not only being propagated by institutions such as the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), but also continue to be voiced by politicians such as Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Ultimately, the situation in Venezuela illustrates the importance of freedom technologies in protecting liberty. China and other authoritarian regimes recognize the value of these digital freedoms and respond by cracking down on them. Protecting privacy tools is not just a matter of personal freedom; it is a national security issue and essential to the future of democracy worldwide. American policymakers must provide leadership on this front to ensure democracy prevails during this difficult time in history. Whether in Venezuela or in the West, the battle for freedom will be decided on a technological level. It is a battle we cannot afford to lose.