Last week, Twitter was welcoming an unexpected new user in the network, the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. He might be a politician, but he sounded more like a messiah on his first tweet:
"Hey how are you doing? I appeared like I said I would: at midnight. I'm off to Brazil. And very happy to work for Venezuela. We will be victorious!!"
Although Hugo Chavez is not the first president to be on Twitter, his new activity raises many questions on the relationship between the Internet and propaganda. Hugo Chavez is indeed known to give media a hard time in Venezuela, and was accused by many journalist organizations to jeopardize freedom of press. The president closed many TV channels and holds a monopoly on Venezuelan media that allows him to appear as much as he wants. He even has his own TV show called Alo Presidente.
The Internet is often seen as the media of the opposition, because it gives a voice to people who don't usually have one on TV, radio or press. We all remember the role that Twitter played in the dissenting movements in Iran. Unfortunately, it seems like politicians are more than ready to get their share from social media.
I think that everybody has the right to use social media to express themselves, the only problem with Chavez becoming a Twitterer is that he doesn't recognize that statement himself. The main reason why the Venezuelan president, considered as a despot, is on Twitter is to fight the presence of the opposition on the Internet. "The Internet is a battle trench because it is bringing a current of conspiracy," he declared.
Nobody can prevent Hugo Chavez from tweeting, but it's sad to see that repressive personalities like him start to use a tool that was partly used to struggle against repression!
What do you think about the presence of Hugo Chavez on Twitter?
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