A project underway in Venezuela to avoid media crackdown by using AI avatars to deliver news



In the Venezuelan presidential election held on July 28, 2024, President Nicolas Maduro was elected for a third term. Under the Maduro regime, which is pushing for dictatorial rule, journalists are under pressure to be arrested just for reporting on modern socialism, so they have adopted a strategy of using fictional news anchors created by AI to avoid this.

'Being on camera is no longer sensible': persecuted Venezuelan journalists turn to AI | Venezuela | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/27/venezuela-journalists-nicolas-maduro-artificial-intelligence-media-election



Venezuelan Journalists Are Using AI Stand-Ins to Combat Media Crackdown | PetaPixel
https://petapixel.com/2024/08/27/venezuelan-journalists-are-using-ai-stand-ins-to-combat-media-crackdown/

In the Venezuelan presidential election in July 2024, doubts have been raised around the world regarding the victory of President Nicolás Maduro, with the election monitoring section of the Organization of American States , which includes the United States and Latin American countries, issuing a statement saying that 'the voting results announced by the Venezuelan Electoral Commission cannot be recognized.'

Suspicious data patterns found in Venezuela's presidential election, whose results are being questioned around the world - GIGAZINE



As a result, in Venezuela, opposition and activist movements have been active since the election, but President Maduro has shown a strong repressive stance against opposition forces and the media that report on them. In fact, American FOX News reported that journalist Maria Oropesa, who critically reported on the widespread and intensifying repression that has continued in Venezuela, was arrested by Venezuela's General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence. In an Instagram post just before her cell phone was confiscated, Oropesa said, 'I'm not a criminal. I'm just one of the people who wants another country,' but her whereabouts since then are unknown. The number of arrests by security forces under the presidential administration has reached 2,200, of which at least nine are known to be journalists.

Colombian journalism platform Connectas is working to use AI-created news anchors to broadcast daily without putting reporters at risk. Carlos Eduardo Huertas, director of Connectas, said, 'The use of AI is not just an innovation, it is a response to the increasing persecution and repression that journalists face in Venezuela. Concerns about the safety of their work are growing by the minute.'



'Before we continue, if you haven't noticed, we're not real,' the AI newscaster began, before reporting on suspicious points about the Venezuelan presidential election and how, less than two weeks after President Maduro took office, 1,000 people were detained and at least 23 were killed during protests. According to the British daily newspaper The Guardian, one of those arrested, 26-year-old sports reporter and photographer Paul Leon, was taken by police while filming a peaceful protest and later charged with terrorism, according to the Venezuelan journalists' union 'SNTP'.



The virtual journalists' initiative, created with AI to conceal the identities of real reporters, involves about 20 Venezuelan news and fact-checking media outlets and about 100 journalists, with avatars called Chama (best friend) and El Pana (partner) reporting the daily news. 'Under the increasingly authoritarian Maduro regime, it is no longer wise to stand in front of the camera,' Huertas said.

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