Maduro blocks X in Venezuela amid scrutiny over election results

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has ordered a 10-day block of the social platform X in the country, accusing X owner Elon Musk of promoting hatred and unrest following the country’s disputed election.

Maduro said he has signed a proposal from the country’s National Telecommunication Commission to remove the social networking site formerly known as Twitter.

“Elon Musk is the owner of X and has violated all the rules of the social network itself,” Maduro said in a speech, The Associated Press reported.

This ban comes a week after Maduro and Musk sparred on the site. Musk flung attacks at the president, writing at one point, “I’m coming for you Maduro.”

Musk’s ire towards Maduro is centered around his presidential win last week, which has been broadly deemed a false result. Election receipts analyzed by several outlets found that the opposition candidate, Edmundo González, received more than double the votes Maduro did.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner and did not use data from precinct-level voting machines before doing so.

“Unfortunately, the processing of those votes and the announcement of results by the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) were deeply flawed, yielding an announced outcome that does not represent the will of the Venezuelan people,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement last week.

The U.S. has condemned the apparent election fraud but has struggled to spur fellow power players to join them. The Organization of American States and the European Union were both expected to join and censure Maduro, until allies of the Venezuelan regime blocked such action.

On Monday, Blinken reupped “serious concerns” the U.S. has over the election results.

“It’s critical that every vote be counted fairly and transparently, that election officials immediately share information with the opposition and independent observers without delay, and that the electoral authorities publish the detailed tabulation of votes,” he said during remarks in Tokyo.

“The international community is watching this very closely and will respond accordingly.”

The Associated Press contributed.