CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Google has unveiled a tool meant to help fight press censorship around the world, testing it first in Venezuela, where journalists say they’re battling a government bent on burying online stories that expose corruption and human rights abuses.
News junkies in Venezuela clicking on links to independent websites have been frustrated in recent years by messages on their screens saying the pages don’t exist — a problem most blame on government moves to block access to critical information.
“It’s very hard to get news to the people,” said Melanio Escobar, a Venezuelan journalist who tested the Intra app on Google’s behalf before it was launched this month.
The government controls the internet as owner of CANTV, the largest internet service provider with more than 2.5 million customers.
