Venezuela misinformation spreads like wildfire online

Brazil Has A Plan To Combat The Right Wing's Unreality

Brazil's government is trying something weird: Being proactive about election misinformation.

Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of a Petrostate

Introduction Venezuela, home to the world’s largest oil reserves, is a case study in the perils of becoming a petrostate. Since it was discovered in the country in the 1920s, oil has taken Venezuela on an exhilarating but dangerous boom-and-bust ride that offers lessons for other resource-rich states. Decades of poor governance have driven what was once one of Latin America’s most prosperous countries to economic and political ruin.  In recent years, Venezuela has suffered economic collapse, with output shrinking significantly and rampant hyperinflation contributing to a scarcity of basic goods, such as food and medicine. Meanwhile, government mismanagement and U.S. sanctions have led to a drastic decline in oil production and severe underinvestment in the sector. Though Washington eased some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gas sector in 2023, signaling a potential détente, Caracas’s failure to meet conditions for a fair election prompted the U.S. government to reimpose sanctions in 2024. What is a petrostate? Petrostate is an informal term used to describe a country with several interrelated attributes: government income is deeply reliant on the export of oil and natural gas, economic and political power are highly concentrated in an elite minority, and political institutions are weak and unaccountable, and corruption is widespread. Countries often described as petrostates include Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. What’s behind the petrostate paradigm? Petrostates are thought to be vulnerable to what economists call Dutch disease, a term coined during the 1970s after the Netherlands discovered natural gas in the North Sea. In an afflicted country, a resource boom attracts large inflows of foreign capital, which leads to an appreciation of the local currency and a boost for imports that are now comparatively cheaper. This sucks labor and capital away from other sectors of the economy, such as agriculture and manufacturing, which economists say are more important for growth and competitiveness. As these labor-intensive export industries lag, unemployment could rise, and the country could develop an unhealthy dependence on the export of natural resources. In extreme cases, a petrostate forgoes local oil production and instead derives most of its oil wealth through high taxes on foreign drillers. Petrostate economies are then left highly vulnerable to unpredictable swings in global energy prices and capital flight. The so-called resource curse also takes a toll on governance. Since petrostates depend more on export income and less on taxes, there are often weak ties between the government and its citizens. Timing of the resource boom can exacerbate the problem. “Most petrostates became dependent on petroleum while, or immediately after, they were establishing a democracy, state institutions, an independent civil service and private sector, and rule of law,” says Terry Lynn Karl, a professor of political science at Stanford University and author of The Paradox of Plenty, a seminal book on the dynamics of petrostates. Leaders can use the country’s resource wealth to repress or co-opt political opposition. How does Venezuela fit the category? Venezuela is the archetype of a failed petrostate, experts say. Oil continues to play the dominant role in the country’s fortunes more than a century after it was discovered there. The oil price plunge from more than $100 per barrel in 2014 to under $30 per barrel in early 2016 sent Venezuela into an economic and political spiral, and despite rising prices since then, conditions remain bleak. A number of grim indicators tell the story: Oil dependence. In recent years, oil exports have financed almost two-thirds of the government’s budget. Estimates for 2024 place this figure slightly lower, at 58 percent. Falling production. Starved of adequate investment and maintenance, oil output has continued to generally decline, hitting its lowest level in decades. However, exports increased by some 12 percent in 2023, due in part to an easing of U.S. sanctions on the country’s oil and gas sector. Turbulent economy. Venezuela’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by roughly three-quarters [PDF] between 2014 and 2021. However, the economy grew by 5 percent in 2023, and the government forecasts it will reach 8 percent in 2024. Soaring debt. Venezuela has an estimated debt burden of $150 billion or higher. Hyperinflation. Annual inflation skyrocketed to just over 130,000 percent in 2018, and though it has since slowed, it remained at 190 percent in 2023, according to the central bank. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r

When Do Parties Lie? Misinformation and Radical-Right Populism Across 26 Countries

The spread of misinformation has emerged as a global concern. Academic attention has recently shifted to emphasize the role of political elites as drivers of misinformation. Yet, little is known of the relationship between party politics and the spread of misinformation—in part due to a dearth of cross-national empirical data needed for comparative study. This article examines which parties are more likely to spread misinformation, by drawing on a comprehensive database of 32M tweets from parliamentarians in 26 countries, spanning 6 years and several election periods. The dataset is combined with external databases such as Parlgov and V-Dem, linking the spread of misinformation to detailed information about political parties and cabinets, thus enabling a comparative politics approach to misinformation. Using multilevel analysis with random country intercepts, we find that radical-right populism is the strongest determinant for the propensity to spread misinformation. Populism, left-wing populism, and right-wing politics are not linked to the spread of misinformation. These results suggest that political misinformation should be understood as part and parcel of the current wave of radical right populism, and its opposition to liberal democratic institution.

Watch the Watchers: Surveillance technologies for political control in Venezuela

Despite changes in leadership, Venezuela's extensive surveillance infrastructure remains fully operational.

We Failed The Misinformation Fight. Now What?

Defending democracy in the digital age will require moving beyond the focus of fighting online misinformation.

When Do Parties Lie? Misinformation and Radical-Right Populism Across 26 Countries - Petter Törnberg, Juliana Chueri, 2026

The spread of misinformation has emerged as a global concern. Academic attention has recently shifted to emphasize the role of political elites as drivers of mi...

Colombia's Petro accuses Israeli cyberfirm BlackCore of election interference

Outgoing president rejects election results, claiming half a million automated bots were deployed to manipulate voters ahead of Abelardo de la Espriella’s razor-thin victory | Anadolu

Trump says U.S. has entered deal with Venezuela to take control of 65 billion barrels of oil reserves

President Trump says his administration has entered a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that could give the U.S. access to vast amounts of the South American country's untapped oil reserves, at cost.

Trump’s Venezuela oil deal gives US access to vast reserves as Iran war drives energy concerns | The National

Agreement deepens US involvement in Venezuela’s oil industry as midterms approach and energy prices remain elevated

Comprendre l’intervention américaine au Venezuela

On ne peut pas comprendre l’enlèvement de Nicolas Maduro si l’on ignore les masses financières colossales associées à un changement de régime à Caracas.

Anticipating Election Misinformation in the 2026 Midterms

Election misinformation often follows the same pattern every cycle. Here are some of the false and misleading claims that voters are likely to see.

AI-driven disinformation running rampant on social media before US midterms, experts warn

Social media companies including Meta have pulled back on efforts to protect voters from election-meddling lies

We're getting the social media crisis wrong

The bigger problem isn't disinformation. It's degraded democratic publics

We're getting the social media crisis wrong

The bigger problem isn't disinformation. It's degraded democratic publics

We're getting the social media crisis wrong

The bigger problem isn't disinformation. It's degraded democratic publics