AI protects journalists from persecution in Venezuela

According to CNN, a group of media organizations in Venezuela have launched news programs using AI-generated anchors.

“Venezuela Retweets” is hosted by two AI avatars named “La Chama” (girl) and “El Pana” (male). They share real news produced by journalists who have recognized that “news reporting is an increasingly risky business.”

While many Western journalists may see artificial intelligence as an “imminent threat to life,” these Venezuelan journalists view it “more favorably” as a “protection.” AI news anchors can “protect real journalists” from the crackdown that authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro has begun since declaring victory in a disputed election in July.

“Being a journalist in Venezuela at the moment is a little like being a firefighter,” said Carlos Eduardo Huertas, director of Conetas, the Colombia-based platform coordinating this effort. told the broadcaster. “We need to be present at the fire, even if it’s dangerous. Girls and men want to be tools for firefighters. We don’t want to replace journalists, we want to protect them.”

Responding to oppression

“Restrictions on free speech in Venezuela are nothing new,” CNN said.

But at least 16 journalists have been detained in recent anti-government protests that erupted after President Maduro declared victory, according to Espacio Public, a Venezuelan organization that measures press freedom. Some face charges of terrorism or incitement to hatred. According to CNN, some people “don’t even know what they’re being accused of.”

According to the Guardian, journalists are now using Venezuela Retweets to report news that Maduro’s government has deemed “unfit for reporting.” The initiative involves around 20 Venezuelan news and fact-checking news organizations and around 100 journalists, whose content will be transformed into daily news programs read aloud by AI-generated avatars.

Most Venezuelans get their news through social media, due to strict government censorship and threats against anti-Maduro content. That’s why “Venezuela Retweet” is specifically designed to be shared on social media. Your avatar will read the news in a clip that you can post to Instagram, Facebook, or forward to WhatsApp. This makes the video difficult to track.

In her first broadcast in August, the female host explained that she and her co-hosts wanted to spread the word about “what’s really going on in Venezuela.”

“But before we go any further, we would like to inform you that we are not real, in case you are unaware,” the Avatar added.

The use of AI is a response to the “increasing persecution and repression suffered by our colleagues in Venezuela,” and uncertainty over job security is “increasing by the minute,” Huertas told the Guardian. told. An increasingly authoritarian regime meant that “being on camera wasn’t so smart anymore.”

Even the name Venezuela Retuit (“Operación Retuit” in Spanish) is an ironic nod to “Operación Tun Tun” or “Knock Knock,” a chilling euphemism coined by the Maduro regime for its harsh repression.

AI as freedom of expression

Maduro’s government also canceled the passports of “dozens of journalists and activists” without explanation after the vote, according to the Financial Times. Human rights groups have described it as an “intensified campaign of repression” after what most countries have condemned as a stolen election.

Caracas-based human rights organization Laboratorio de Paz told the FT that the number of canceled passports could be much higher, citing Venezuelans’ “fear of reporting incidents”. spoke.

“Unlike murder or torture, which carries a greater political cost, governments have found that passport revocation is an effective way to neutralize and silence critical voices with minimal effort.” said Rafael Uzcategui, co-director of De Paz.

A journalist discovered for the first time while abroad that his passport had been canceled. “I asked myself, ‘Where did I come from?'” she told the paper. She is unsure whether to go home or not.

The FT said Maduro is also “moving to suppress online dissent,” by “blocking access to X” and “encouraging citizens to uninstall” WhatsApp. He said there was.

“This is a policy of fear-mongering,” another Venezuelan journalist told the paper.

But the “Venezuela retweet” is “getting attention,” CNN said. Huertas said press freedom organizations in other parts of Latin America have been in touch. He wants to offer content in Russian, Chinese and other languages ​​to viewers in countries allied with Maduro.

According to CNN, there is “widespread interest in using AI as a tool for freedom of expression” in authoritarian countries.