Venezuela protesters demand end of internet 'censorship'

Dozens of demonstrators gathered Friday in Caracas to demand that the interim government lift a blockade of around 200 websites, including top media outlets, denouncing ongoing "censorship" since the US ousted president Nicolas Maduro in January.

The protest in front of the state telecommunications regulator Conatel in the capital was held to mark the World Day Against Cyber Censorship, activists said.

"In Venezuela, more than 200 sites are blocked by the main internet service providers," Andres Azpurua, from the internet freedom NGO Sin Filtros, told AFP.

"That includes over 60 news sites and basically all of the Venezuelan and international news media," he said.

Venezuela has been led by interim president Delcy Rodriguez since her former boss, Maduro, was captured by US forces and spirited to the United States to face trial.

Under the government of Maduro's predecessor, strongman leader Hugo Chavez, hundreds of media outlets were shut down during his decades of rule.

For Azpurua of Sin Filtros, "nothing has changed with internet censorship" since Maduro's arrest and Rodriguez was installed as leader with Washington's agreement.

"If we want democracy in Venezuela, we need to free the internet," he said.