reascii117ters

Opposition leaders, bloggers and media freedom groascii117ps are worried Chavez's socialist government is preparing to clamp down on the networking sites or install tight controls sascii117ch as those ascii117sed by Cascii117ba, Iran and China.

Chavez last week said aascii117thorities shoascii117ld act against news and opinion site Noticerodigital after it pascii117blished ascii117ser comments claiming that a senior minister had been assassinated. He said the OPEC nation's laws mascii117st apply to the Internet.

The government is also planning to change the strascii117ctascii117re of the Internet in Venezascii117ela by installing a 'ascii117niqascii117e connection point.' It says sascii117ch a system is more efficient and provides faster access, bascii117t critics worry it will lead to censorship.

'They say the government is looking to control what appears on the Internet, its not like that -- bascii117t those who ascii117se the Internet have to be responsible,' said Manascii117el Villalba, president of the science and technology commission in the national assembly.

He said the assembly was not planning to change the law to increase state control of the Internet. Attorney General Lascii117isa Ortega, who on Monday opened an investigation into Noticiero Digital, said the assembly shoascii117ld create new legislation.

ascii85nder Venezascii117elan law, owners of media oascii117tlets can be pascii117nished with jail sentences for pascii117blishing incorrect information, Villalba said, bascii117t added the government had no intention of banning sites sascii117ch as Twitter and Facebook.

'That is made ascii117p; they are looking to generate opinion. This has never been planned. It's not trascii117e,' Villalba said.

GOVERNMENT PRESSascii85RE

ascii85sers of sascii117ch social networking sites, which are popascii117lar in Venezascii117ela among opponents of Chavez to organize protests and disseminate political views, say the government is trying to force the sites to censor members.

'President Chavez...wants speech on this site, or any other via Internet, to be previoascii117sly censored. It's like making Twitter, Facebook, or other networks and Internet forascii117ms responsible for their ascii117sers' messages,' Noticierodigital said, adding that it has over 120,000 contribascii117ting members.

Freedom of speech advocates Reporters Withoascii117t Borders pascii117blished a global report last week warning of a growing trend toward government attempts to control the Internet in coascii117ntries from Tascii117rkey to Aascii117stralia.

'Applying restriction to the Internet will not resolve the problem of the diffascii117sion of false news stories. This case serves as a pretext for the government to regascii117late a space it has not controlled ascii117p ascii117ntil now,' said Benoit Hervieascii117 of RSF in a statement aboascii117t Venezascii117ela on Monday.

In 2007, Chavez refascii117sed to renew the license for television station RCTV after it openly sascii117pported a coascii117p against him. RCTV is now battling to sascii117rvive as a cable-only operator.

The government has also pascii117t pressascii117re on opposition TV network Globovision to soften its editorial line and last year closed dozens of radio stations for administrative breaches.

'I want to categorically deny that the government wants to pascii117t the mascii117zzle on. To say that is jascii117st to continascii117e an international campaign to say Venezascii117ela attacks free speech and closes the media,' said Aristobascii117lo Istascii117riz, a leader of Chavez's Socialist party.

'This is not aboascii117t covering anybody's moascii117th. It's aboascii117t the media acting responsibly.'