Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro deleted the application from his phone live on the grounds that some regions of the country spread violence and hatred on WhatsApp.

Axar.az reports that Maduro, who showed his phone screen to the cameras during the television broadcast he participated in in the capital Caracas, deleted the WhatsApp application.

The head of state said that WhatsApp threatened the military, the police, as well as community leaders, so he asked the public to voluntarily delete WhatsApp:

"I got rid of WhatsApp. Venezuelan families, youth, patriotic men and women, do you want peace? Delete WhatsApp because it is giving the whole list of Venezuela to Colombian drug dealers and imperialism. No to WhatsApp."

The head of state recommended Telegram and other social networks.

Maduro's words were met with thunderous applause in the studio.