Nicolas Maduro blocks X in Venezuela amid Elon Musk fight

Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has blocked access to X in the country for 10 days over his ongoing dispute with the social media platform's owner Elon Musk .

Maduro made the proclamation during a speech Thursday night, ordering Venezuela's National Commission of Telecommunications or Conatel to block the social media site.

"He [Musk] has violated [the rules], by inciting hatred, fascism, civil war, death and confrontations among Venezuelans, [he] has violated all of the laws of Venezuela. And in Venezuela there are laws...and we will enforce the laws," Maduro said during the speech, translated to English by CNBC.

Musk had not responded to Maduro on X as of 12 p.m. EDT Friday. The billionaire has sparred on X with Maduro, calling him a dictator on the social media platform and accusing him of "major election fraud." He also challenged him to a physical fight.

The X account operated by Conatel was still operating normally, issuing posts related to education around the same time.

"Confirmed: Live metrics show X (formerly Twitter) is now restricted in Venezuela as contested president Maduro orders regulator Conatel to ban the platform for 10 days, claiming that it promotes civil war; the incident comes a day after similar calls to ban X in the U.K.," internet monitoring firm NetBlocks posted Thursday.

It also published graphics showing the status of networks in Venezuela, some Internet service providers showed 0% reachability while some showed restricted access.

Maduro was re-elected late last month in an election that saw the 61-year-old declare victory for a third term, despite polls showing his opposition holding a wide lead and concerns over potential irregularities.

Civil unrest has broken out across the country with Venezuela's attorney general opening an investigation into opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

Tarek Saab is looking into both politicians for calling for the country's military and police to end their support for the country's authoritarian leader and repression of public dissent.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called on Venezuela and Maduro to peacefully restore democratic norms following mass protests over the election results.

The United States previously recognized González as the winner of Venezuela's election, accusing Maduro's administration of failing to disclose full vote tallies.