Service blocking

Access to social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, was reportedly blocked by state-owned Internet service provider CANTV ahead of a planned anti-government demonstration. The restriction began in the early hours of November 16, lasting until 9:50 a.m. YouTube was likewise blocked for an hour, from 1:08 p.p to 2:03 p.m local time, as public protests were livestreamed on social media.

Data from OONI corroborates local reports. The following chart  aggregates OONI measurement coverage from the OONI Probe testing of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter domains in Venezuela on November 16

Chart: OONI Measurement Aggregation Toolkit (MAT): Venezuela, OONI Probe Web Connectivity testing of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram domains on November 16

In particular, the testing of Twitter and Instagram websites presented signs of blocking on state-owned CANTV (AS8048). On this network, we observed some measurements pertaining to Twitter and Instagram presenting anomalies on November 16.  On the same day, the testing of Facebook’s website presented an anomaly (resulting in a timeout error) on one ASN in Venezuela: Corporación Telemic C.A. (AS21826).

While OONI measurement coverage from Venezuela in November was somewhat limited (thereby limiting our confidence in confirming these blocks), it’s worth highlighting that all other measurements collected earlier in October 2019 show Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accessible on the same networks. Similarly, all measurements from November 20 and 21 show Facebook accessible on all tested networks, while measurements related to Twitter suggest that it was mostly accessible thereafter.

Chart: OONI Measurement Aggregation Toolkit (MAT): Venezuela, OONI Probe Web Connectivity testing of Twitter website on November 21 on AS8048.

The timing of anomalies (on November 16) coincides with the timing of reports that alleged that authorities in Venezuela restricted access to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on the day of planned protests.