About VE sin Filtro
VE sin Filtro is a program dedicated to monitoring and documenting threats to the exercise of human rights in the digital environment in Venezuela, created by the digital human rights organization Conexión Segura y Libre (Free and Secure Online).
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Since 2014 it has helped identify and circumvent media censorship and has pioneered the joint use of automated network measurements, volunteer-contributed tests, and network traffic analysis to document internet censorship. VE sin Filtro has used open-source investigations to examine restrictions on human rights online to attribute state-sponsored digital attacks in Venezuela. With technical evidence and data analysis, it exposes and documents the extent of internet blocking and censorship, indiscriminate government surveillance and cyber-attacks against civil society.
Through constant monitoring, VE sin Filtro provides real-time updates on the state of the Internet in Venezuela. This work not only focuses on connectivity and unequal access to the Internet, but also on the monitoring of service interruptions, Internet shutdowns, attacks and blocks, with the purpose of protecting access to information, freedom of expression, privacy, security, education, participation, among other fundamental rights.
Conexión Segura y Libre offers emergency assistance to civil society organizations, journalists and independent media under attack or recently blocked; helping to resolve the incident and mitigating the impact of censorship; and provides support and training to activists, journalists and organizations, and develops recommendations and best practices to counter threats to their rights and safety.
Conexión Segura y Libre created Noticias Sin Filtro, a resilient anti-censorship newsreader to facilitate access to local independent news in Venezuela.
The VE sin Filtro program won the FRIDA Prize for a Free and Open Internet, awarded by LACNIC. Its work is considered in the reports of other Human Rights organizations and cited by Time, The Washington Post and El País.
Human rights restrictions documented by Conexión Segura y Libre have been cited by local and international organizations, as well as human rights bodies, to report abuses of power, censorship of content in the public interest, and the lack of policies ensuring equitable access to the Internet in Venezuela.