Following a highly contested and suspicious presidential election, reporters, journalists and newscasters have faced a heightened threat from Venezuela’s communist government, and outlets are taking advantage of artificial intelligence in an attempt to protect their employees from retribution.
Mediaite reports:
The fallout from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s disputed election in July led to a government-driven crackdown that began when he first came to power in 2013. Since then, it has become increasingly dangerous to be a reporter in the country. Reporters Without Borders says: “Journalism is heavily restricted in Venezuela. Reporters are often beaten or threatened in the course of their work during elections or political conflicts. As President Maduro controls both the attorney general’s office and the ombudsman’s office, neither helps to guarantee the safety of journalists, with the result that physical or verbal violence against them is seldom investigated.”
In the election held earlier this summer, Nicolas Maduro claimed to win by 51% while independent exit pollers determined his opponent Edmundo Gonzalez won by a staggering 71%. The election results Maduro asserted were mathematically impossible, with him receiving 51.2%, Gonzalez receiving 44.2%, and eight other candidates receiving exactly 4.6% each, totaling 132.2%.
Breitbart News shared the United Nations’ findings:
In a little more than one month, the persecution campaign has resulted in at least 25 deaths, hundreds injured, and more than 2,400 arbitrary detentions, including more than 140 teenagers, of which nearly 60 children aged 14-17 remain detained as of the weekend. The campaign has featured harrowing tactics, such as retrofitting government phone apps with features to hunt dissidents and forcing dissidents to record horror-esque “apologies.” The report stressed that the children detained — some of whom present disabilities — were accused of “terrorism and incitement to hatred.”
Following the election, his opponent was forced to flee the country after the Maduro regime issued a warrant for his arrest citing “disobedience,” “conspiracy,” and “sabotage” charges.
Mediaite contines:
NBC News reported in August, about a month after the election, about how the government crackdown on free journalism resulted in one journalist being taken into custody and charged with “terrorism.” A CNN report by Stefano Pozzeban published Wednesday stated that at least 16 journalists had been detained since the election. Some journalists have left the field out of fear.
As a result, Operation Retweets was born. Using news readers created with artificial intelligence — La Chama, or “The Girl,” and El Pana, “The Dude” — real reporters are able to do their jobs without revealing their identities. It is made clear to the viewer that both news anchors are not real people, but the stories are written by real reporters. And since many Venezuelans have turned to social media to get their news, having lost trust in compromised state-run media, Operation Retweets was designed to get the word out online.
Critics have expressed doubt about how efficiently AI is able to conceal the identities of the journalists behind the stories.
Shelly Palmer is a professor of Advanced Media at Syracuse University with extensive artificial intelligence experience who said, “It’s nonsense to even think for a heartbeat that it’s a safety tool. It’s a clever idea, and I hope it lasts forever. But I wouldn’t want anyone to believe for a second that by creating an avatar and creating a false voice, or cloning someone else’s voice you are hiding. Not at all: you are 100% exposed. Unless you are an absolute expert in covering your tracks digitally, there’s nothing about this that is stealthy.”
