Venezuela pays people to tweet state propaganda and deepfake videos

BBC
News

reports
that
the
Venezuelan
government
is
paying
people
to
tweet
in
support
of
it,
in
an
attempt
to
drown
out
the
noise
of
its
critics.

Every
day,
Venezuela’s
ministry
of
communications
tweets
a
“hashtag
of
the
day”,
which
is
repeated
not
only
by
elected
officials’
accounts
and
state
sympathisers
but
also
by
“digital
troops”
like
Rafael,
who
are
paid
to
share
propaganda.
“You
have
to
space
it
out
to
avoid
being
blocked.
I
do
about
100
in
the
morning
and
100
more
in
the
afternoon,”
he
says.

It’s
outrageous
that
a
Government
is
paying
people
to
tweet
state
propaganda.

Can’t
they
use
bots
like
everyone
else?

For
more
background
on
what
is
happening,
and
how
digital
propagandists
have
been
rewarded
financially
for
pumping
out
pro-Government
hashtags
and
deepfake
videos,
listen
to


BBC
Trending’s
“Trolled”
on

BBC
Sounds.

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About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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