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🇻🇪 Venezuela /Crime & Justice

How Hackers Operate to Suspend Instagram Accounts in Venezuela

From El Nacional · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Venezuelan Instagram accounts of media, journalists, and influencers are being suspended due to copyright claims.
  • An AI expert suggests hackers exploit Meta's system vulnerabilities, possibly hired by the current regime.
  • These copyright attacks, often initiated during nighttime hours, aim to overwhelm Meta's system and suspend targeted accounts.

A wave of Instagram account suspensions is hitting Venezuelan media outlets, journalists, and influencers, including El Nacional, with hackers allegedly exploiting Meta's system vulnerabilities. AI expert Carlos Lozano explained that these attacks are based on copyright claims, even for live streams or original content.

This is due to hackers taking advantage of Meta's system vulnerabilities.

— Carlos LozanoExplaining the cause behind the Instagram account suspensions.

Lozano indicated that the coordinated nature of these attacks, often occurring between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., suggests a deliberate effort to overwhelm Meta's systems. He noted that hackers target accounts reporting on national political events, leading to suspicions that they are hired by representatives of the current regime. Dozens of accounts in Carabobo state alone have been affected, including content creators, lawyers, and political activists.

Hackers attack from different angles to achieve suspension.

— Carlos LozanoDescribing the coordinated nature of the copyright attacks.

The sophisticated method involves hackers filing multiple copyright complaints in various languages, including Italian, Russian, Chinese, English, Spanish, and Portuguese. They impersonate the victim, claiming the original author is infringing on their content. Lozano pointed out that Meta's algorithm struggles to distinguish these orchestrated attacks from legitimate claims, and the appeals process can take months, leaving users vulnerable.

The algorithm does not have the capacity to distinguish an attack.

— Carlos LozanoHighlighting Meta's system's inability to detect fraudulent copyright claims.

This tactic highlights a significant vulnerability within Meta's platform. Lozano stressed the need for Meta to improve its oversight of susceptible accounts and expedite its response to such complex issues. The high cost associated with these hacking services suggests a well-funded operation behind the suspensions.

This costs a lot of money.

— Carlos LozanoCommenting on the expense of the hacking services.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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