Venezuela has lifted restrictions on 17 news websites that had been inaccessible for years, according to the country’s telecommunications regulator. The change follows the ouster of Nicolás Maduro and comes ahead of a second round of talks in Caracas between the interim government and parts of the opposition, with Washington backing the discussions.
VE Sin Filtro, a digital rights organization, confirmed that the 17 sites were accessible through different internet providers. The group said, however, that 188 websites remained blocked, including 79 news portals. Some Venezuelan users had relied on virtual private networks to reach the restricted sites.
The restrictions were imposed during Maduro’s administration, which, according to the supplied source, censored hundreds of national and international websites as well as various news portals. Journalists and nongovernmental organizations have repeatedly denounced the censorship, while Reporters Without Borders said last month that repression, restricted access to information and a hostile legal environment had severely constrained independent journalism.
Dinorah Figuera, head of the opposition delegation in the talks, welcomed the decision in a post on X but said many media outlets were still missing. She described the unblocking as a first step and called for all affected outlets to regain access.
Deputy Communications Minister Gustavo Villapol said the decision was intended to end polarization. Luis Ernesto Blanco, editorial director of Runrunes, one of the unblocked websites, said the move officially acknowledged that public debate had been suppressed.
Victor Amaya, who runs TalCual, said he was skeptical that every censored site would become accessible again but hoped the change would produce a more normal communications environment. The portal, which was blocked in mid-2024, lost 60% of its audience and significant advertising revenue, according to the supplied source.