Venezuela’s president has banned the use of social network X in the country, after being harshly criticized by the platform’s owner, Elon Musk.

According to Reuters, on August 8, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro issued an order banning the use of social network X throughout the country for 10 days.

Social network X boss calls Venezuelan president a donkey

The ban was issued amid public opinion at home and abroad over the results of the Venezuelan presidential election, where Mr. Maduro was re-elected for a third term.

Mr Maduro signed a resolution proposed by the telecommunications regulator Conatel, which “decides to suspend the activities of social network X, formerly known as Twitter, for 10 days”.

Explaining the decision, the Venezuelan president accused billionaire Elon Musk , owner of X, of inciting hatred, civil war and death on the platform.

Previously, Mr. Maduro and billionaire Musk often had arguments on this social network.

Mr Musk compared the Venezuelan president to a donkey, while Mr Maduro accused billionaire Musk of being behind post-election protests and dissent in Venezuela.

Tensions between the two continued to escalate, as the two engaged in a heated exchange of words in the comments section of X and via Venezuelan state television.

“Social Network X will leave Venezuela in the next 10 days,” Mr. Maduro said on national television.

Before President Nicolas Maduro ‘s decision , neither billionaire Elon Musk nor social network X have yet spoken out.

Calling on people to switch to other social networks

Not only affecting the X platform, Mr. Maduro previously called on people to switch to using Telegram or WeChat applications instead of WhatsApp, after accusing this platform of being used to threaten the families of soldiers and police.

On July 29, the National Electoral Council (CNE) confirmed that Nicolas Maduro had been re-elected for a third term. If nothing changes, Maduro will continue to lead the South American country until 2031.

The results were met with immediate backlash. Protests broke out in Venezuela against the results, while many Latin American countries also called for transparency in the election process.

In addition, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken himself publicly affirmed that he did not recognize Mr. Maduro’s victory.

The vote count has not yet been released.