Venezuelan leader slams TikTok for 'wanting civil war' in his country

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“They are responsible for the victory [Argentine President Javier] Miley and fascists,” Maduro added. “They have an alliance with fascism in Venezuela and throughout Latin America.”
Demonstrators in Mexico City on Saturday protested against the election results that gave Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a third term in office. Photo: Reuters

The Venezuelan leader said he received an automated message from TikTok justifying his profile by saying it “promotes violence.”

In response, Maduro said the platform promoted “violent protests” carried out by his opponents.

“I want to tell the immoral scoundrels from TikTok that they are the ones promoting violence by live streaming. [the protests] July 29, 30, 31 and the following days for thousands of people. Anyone who installed TikTok knew that [the opposition] was aware of all the attacks and was able to watch them live.”

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is the second time Maduro has spoken out against a social media platform owned by a Chinese tech company. ByteDance.
Venezuela's leader claims he won presidential elections in the country took place on July 28 against opposition leader Edmundo González, and he has repeatedly criticized foreign apps for spreading fraud allegations.

There are 12.35 million TikTok users in Venezuela, according to DataReportal, citing ByteDance data.

Earlier, Maduro called on the Venezuelan public to remove WhatsAppinstant messaging service. He also ordered that X, formerly Twittertemporarily blocked across the country and exchanged insults with its owner, Elon Musk.

Venezuela has been rocked by violent unrest and public discontent for weeks after the country's electoral council, made up of Maduro's allies, announced his re-election for another six-year term.

González's allies have collected results from 83.5% of polling stations across the country, arguing that the opposition leader, a former diplomat who once served as Venezuela's ambassador to Argentinawon the election by a margin of almost 3.9 million votes.

The accuracy of the vote counting reports, signed by the heads of each electoral district and published by opposition leaders, was confirmed by several independent bodies.

In early August, researchers from the University of Michigan's Department of Statistics analyzed the accounting sheets and declared with 99.5% confidence that Gonzalez had won the election.

Maduro has refused to concede defeat and has yet to release final voting figures confirming his victory. When pressed by opponents, he said on social media that he had already ordered “three prisons to be opened for those who challenge the election results.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement after the election that he believed the results released by Venezuela's electoral council were “deeply flawed, producing a declared result that does not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.” Blinken later congratulated González on his victory.

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