S7: Episode 32 - Ricardo Vaz

Ricardo Vaz, an editor and writer for , joins Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola to talk about censorship his media organization is dealing with on Twitter. For nearly two weeks, Twitter locked out Ricardo and other Venezuelanalysis staffers from their account, which they use to distribute reporting and analysis of the latest political developments in Venezuela. (Their access was restored on September 6.) Anyone who went to @venanalysis, the organization's Twitter page, saw the following: "Caution: This account is temporarily restricted. You’re seeing this warning because there has been some unusual activity from this account. Do you still want to view it?" What is unusual is that Venezuelanalysis consistently publishes content that challenges the United States government's policy of regime change in Venezuela. During the latter part of the episode, Ricardo discusses the impact of COVID-19 on Venezuela and how U.S. sanctions have worsened the Venezuelan government's ability to deal with the pandemic. He shares some of his thoughts on what would (and would not change) if Democratic nominee Joe Biden becomes President. Ricardo comments on where Venezuelanalysis fits in the media landscape and highlights some of the history of the website, which has a lot to do with why they are now a target of censorship on social media platforms.