In Venezuela, 140 Characters Can Land You in Jail

Seven people in Venezuela had to trade a keyboard for prison bars in 2014. Ordinary citizens who wrote messages on Twitter — that were considered criminal by the Venezuelan government — are now behind bars. In most cases, Venezuelan intelligence forces took them from their houses and workplaces and incarcerated them. Although it may seem like a newfangled practice, it is not that at all. In Venezuelan prisons there are already several Internet prisoners. Jesus Enrique Manajo was detained in September of 2010 for publishing a photograph showing the wounded face of then-president Hugo Chavez. Another example is Lourdes Alicia Ortega, brought to court in March 2013 for having stolen the identity of an employee from the Autonomous Service of Registries and Notaries to send tweets against Chávez. More…