This social media health report construes the monitoring conducted in the days between the 15th of February 2021 through the 15th of March 2021. The Health Report is aimed at assessing the key issues on social media, the overall dynamics of hate speech in the country, and what they mean to the socio-political development of Ethiopia.

The monitoring of this month includes the overall assessment of social media activities through the platform of Crowd Tangle and Brandwatch. Key issues are determined based on the degree of interaction and the attention it received on social media.

Key Issues of the Month

• EZEMA’s election-related concerns (February 15th) 
• OLF’s statement regarding the upcoming election (February 19th) 
• The killing of Yemane Nigusse, leader of the fenqile movement (February 20th ) 
• #StarvingForJustice and #OromoProtests (February 22nd) 
• Grant of permission for international media outlets to cover Tigray[1] region. (24th February) 
• Security concerns in Tigray Region (26th of February) 
• Killings in Horogudru welega zone (March 10th)

Loading…

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [1.60 MB]

This social media health report construes the monitoring conducted in the working days between the 15th of January 2021 through the 15thof February 2021. The Health Report is aimed at assessing mainly the key issues on social media, the overall dynamics of hate speech in the country, and what they mean for the socio-political development of Ethiopia. The monitoring of this month includes the overall assessment of social media activities through the platform of Crowd tangle and Brandwatch. Key issues are determined based on the degree of interaction and the attention it received on social media.

Key Issues of the Month

• Security Concerns in Tigray Region 
• Rallies ‘to support PM Abiy Ahmed’ 
• Twitter campaign with the hashtag
  • #OromoYellowMovement and
  • #WeAllArePrisonersHenceTheYellow 
• Twitter campaign with the hashtag #UnityForEthiopia

Loading…

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [448.57 KB]

Background

On March 2020, the Ethiopian House of Peoples’ Representatives adopted the controversial Hate Speech and Disinformation Prevention and Suppression Proclamation No 1185/2020. The law emerged in the backdrop of a string of deadly inter-ethnic clashes across the country, which the government was quick to link to viral speech and disinformation disseminated through broadcasting, social and print media.

While containing dissemination of hate speech and disinformation, which at times precipitates social discord and even violence, is necessary and legitimate, the resort to criminal law has generated concerns that the law could have a chilling effect on free expression and be used to stifle legitimate public deliberation. This fear is not unwarranted considering the rampant history of state abuses of legal process and the politicization (and tendency to overreach) of police and prosecution offices.

The Ethiopian law comes amid a flurry of similar laws across the African continent, from Kenya to Tanzania to Nigeria, as well as recurrent internet shutdowns ostensibly to stem promotion of violence and disorder. In all cases, the resort to criminal law purportedly to protect social peace and harmony and suppress inflammatory and violent expression, particularly on online platforms, raises critical issues on achieving the desired balance between freedom of expression and legitimate limitations. While the context in these countries is unique, their experiences could provide useful insights to understanding the consequences of the laws, and organising to advocate for change, and, whenever necessary, challenging their compatibility with constitutional and international human rights standards, including in the courts.

The brief is not intended to assess the propriety of the Ethiopian Proclamation, or its advantages and disadvantages. Instead, it seeks to contribute to creating public awareness about the law to help individuals freely exercise their freedom of expression, while also understanding the prohibitions in the law. Readers should note that there are some discrepancies between the English and Amharic versions of the law. This brief is based on the Amharic version, which is legally authoritative.

Know the law

Considering the potential for overreach and self-censorship, creating a clear understanding of the law among law enforcement officials, judges and the broader public is crucial to ensure that the law’s suppressive net is not cast too wide. This brief note seeks to throw some light on the law to enable ordinary men and women (but also law enforcement officials and media and online platform managers) to understand:

• What is prohibited and penalties attached;
• The burden of proof; and
• Acceptable and unacceptable defences.

Before defining hate speech and disinformation, it is crucial to understand that the right to freedom of expression is the principle while limitations on the right are the exception. Accordingly, the crimes of hate speech and disinformation must be understood strictly and the burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt lies with state authorities.

What is hate speech?

Under the law, hate speech occurs when two conditions co-exist:

• Deliberate incitement (English version says promote, which is less severe than incitement) of hatred, discrimination or violence;
• Against a target group – a person or discernible group based on ethnicity, religion, race, gender or disability.

Accordingly, hate speech exists only when done knowingly. But violence is not a requirement:

• Under the law, if the two conditions exist, there is hate speech, regardless of whether the speech has or is likely to trigger public disturbances or violence against the target group.

NB: Because the nature of hateful expression depends on historical relationships, familiarisation with commonly used derogatory words/ expressions is critical for the proper understanding and application of the law. In this regard, PeaceTech Lab is developing a Hate Speech Lexicon (dictionary) for Ethiopia.

What is disinformation?

Disinformation relates to information that:

• A person knows to be false or should upon basic checking know to be false; and
• Is highly likely to cause public disturbance, riot, violence or conflict.

Accordingly, unlike hate speech, the high likelihood of disturbance or violence is part of the definition of the crime of disinformation.

IMPORTANT: hate speech and disinformation do not prohibit criticisms of the government or public officials.

When is hate speech or disinformation a crime?

The law does not punish hate speech or disinformation as such.

• It is only the dissemination of hate speech or disinformation tomany persons that is punishable.
• The law is not clear on the number of people the message should reach, but sharing beyond the close circle of friends and family may be needed.

Liking or tagging content considered hate speech or disinformation is not considered dissemination and is therefore not punishable.

How can hate speech or disinformation be disseminated?

The manner of dissemination of hate speech or dissemination does not matter, and may include:

• In person – e.g. in large meetings.
• Via television or radio;
• On social media, such as Facebook;
• On messaging/calling apps, such as Telegram; or
• Any other online platforms, such as online publications and personal websites.

IMPORTANT: The law does not prohibit the generation or production of content that constitutes hate speech or disinformation. The prohibition is against dissemination of such content for ‘many people’.

• So a person who disseminates such information could be punished, while the person who produced it may not.

Valid legal defences

A suspect would not be considered to have committed an offence if:

• The person had no intention of promoting or disseminating hate speech;
• The person can show the accuracy of information, or had no knowledge of the falsity of information and he or she had made efforts to verify accuracy;
  •  Truth is a defence against charges of disinformation.
• If the disinformation was not likely to trigger public disturbance or violence;
• If the speech or information is presented in the form of political commentary, rather than a statement of fact or news report; or
• If the speech or information was part of:

• An academic study or scientific inquiry;
• News report, analysis or political critique;
• Artistic creativity, performance or other forms of expression; or
• Religious teaching.

Invalid defences

• The following do not provide a legal defence against charges of hate speech or information:

That the person did not create the content. The law punishes dissemination, not generation of hate speech or disinformation. Criminalising the mere creation of hateful content or disinformation could unduly stifle creativity in a manner manifestly incompatible with freedom of expression. The focus on dissemination as the defining feature of the crimes is therefore necessary and understandable.

• That the person deleted the content after it has been disseminated.

• But this could allow courts to impose less serious punishment of community service, rather than imprisonment or fine.
• That the speech or information was in response to attacks against people belonging to his or her group.
• That the person was responding to others who said or posted offensive statements about him or her or to persons belonging to his or her group.

What are the penalties?

If finally convicted by a court of law, a person faces serious penalties.

• Hate speech: the punishment may reach up to two years imprisonment or up to 100, 000 Birr.
• Disinformation: the punishment may reach up to one-year imprisonment or up to 50, 000 Birr fine.

Aggravating factors:

If hate speech leads to attack on a person or a group, the offender will face imprisonment between one and five years, without the option of a fine.

• If violence or disturbance occurs as a result of disinformation, the punishment ranges between two- and five-years imprisonment.
• If hate speech or disinformation is committed through social media accounts with more than 5,000 followers or through television, radio or print media, the punishment can reach up to three years imprisonment and fine of up to 100, 000 Birr (while under the Amharic version both imprisonment and fine are imposed simultaneously, the English version says imprisonment or fine, making them alternative).

Mitigating factors

If the hate speech or disinformation did not lead to disturbance or violence, courts have the discretion to sentence offenders to community service, rather than imprisonment or fine.

Importance of societal context

The prohibitions against hate speech and disinformation are intended to prevent the disturbance of social cohesion and stability. What constitutes hate speech or disinformation therefore depends on historical relations and narratives between groups.

• As such, while in principle disinformation can be ascertained based on reference to accuracy of information, in a context where historical events are deeply contested, defining disinformation is bound to be controversial.
• Hate speech is even more difficult to ascertain as it largely depends on how the target group understands the message as hateful or discriminatory.As law enforcement officials – the police, prosecutors and judges – are all part of society and amenable to group sensitivities and narratives, the chances of inconsistent application of the laws are high. Any perception of such selective or inconsistent application of the laws could endanger the social cohesion and stability the laws seek to promote.

Beyond criminalising hate speech and disinformation

While individuals should take responsibility and caution in the exercise of their freedom of expression, long term success in the battle against hate speech and disinformation may lie outside the realm of criminal law. In this regard, resources should be invested more in enhancing digital literacy and actively promoting inter-group knowledge and understanding. Ultimately, the goal should be to make the criminalisation of hate speech and disinformation unnecessary.

Indeed, the law imposes obligations on the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority to promote public awareness and media literacy campaigns to combat disinformation, and on the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to conduct public awareness campaigns to combat hate speech. This is further complemented by the duty of social media service providers to suppress and prevent the dissemination of disinformation and hate speech, and to remove disinformation or hate speech upon receiving notifications within 24 hours.

It is critical to note that the major social media platforms have their own community rules and standards for users, including a ban on hate speech. Nevertheless, the definitions of hate speech do not necessarily overlap with that provided in the Ethiopian law. For instance, Facebook bans hate speech which it defines as ‘as a direct attack on people based on what we call protected characteristics — race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, caste, sex, gender, gender identity, and serious disease or disability’. Twitter has similar rules and bans hateful content that promotes ‘violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease’, or the use of hateful images or symbols as a profile image or profile header. The differences in the definition mean that an expression may be considered hateful under the law, but not necessarily under Facebook or Twitter rules, or vice versa.

Interact with us!

• Have you heard or read about the Hate Speech and Disinformation Proclamation?
• How do you understand the content of the Proclamation?
• What has your experience with the Proclamation been? Do you, or people you know, feel more constrained in your exercise of freedom of expression because of the law?
• Do you think the law should be reformed or repealed?

PDF of the report

Loading…

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [362.56 KB]

The monitoring of this month includes the overall assessment of social media activities through the platform of Crowd tangle and Brandwatch. Key issues are determined based on the degree of interaction and the attention it received on social media.

Key issues of the month

• Controversy between the Benshangul Gumuz and Amhara prosperity parties (December 15th)
• The continued tension between Ethiopia and Sudan (December 16th)
• A Twitter campaign with the hashtag #Plus178CandidatesBehindBars (December 18th).
• A twitter campaign with the hashtag #StopAmharaGenocide
• PM Abiy Ahmed had speaks with residents in Metekel, Benishangul Gumuz (December 22th)
• The killings of Civilians in Benshangul Gumuz, Metekel (December 23rd)

Loading…

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [558.14 KB]

Introduction

This social media health report construes the monitoring conducted in the working days between the 15th of November through the 15th of December 2020. The monitoring of this month includes the overall assessment of social media activities through the platform of Crowd tangle and Brandwatch.

• A twitter campaign with the hashtag #NationalDialogueNow (November 20th)

A 24-hour twitter campaign was held demanding for an all-inclusive national dialogue to end the crisis in Ethiopia. According to the organizers of the campaign, the idea of the campaign was peace and negotiation to solve the problem the country is in.

Image 1: Call for the campaign using the hashtag #NationalDialogueNow

Graph 1: Mentions volume trend of the campaign.

The above chart depicts the total tweets made using the hashtag #NationalDialogueNow from the 16th –24th of November. We can see that it reached its peak on the 20th of November, which is the date picked for the campaign by the organizers. A total of 65,000 mentions were made using the hashtag by 5757 unique authors. It had been trending in Ethiopia as can be seen below.

Image 2: Twitter trend on the 20th of November

• The 16 days of activism (November 25th– December 10th)

The annual worldwide international campaign that calls for the prevention and the elimination of violence against Women took place with this year’s global theme: “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!” The campaign took place from the international day of elimination of violence against women(VAW) on the 25th of November until the 10th of December (International Human Rights Day). Social media users joined the campaign by changing their profile to orange and producing and sharing content with the hashtag #OrangeTheWorld, #16Days and #GenerationEquality.

Image 3: A poster of the campaign having the theme of the year.

• Campaigns with the hashtag #WaronTigray, #Tigraywillprevail, #IstandwithTigray, #ReconnectTigray

There was Tigryan activist’s social media campaign with the hashtags #Tigraywillprevail #WarOnTigray, #IStandWithTigray and #TigrayGenocide. This was following the tension between the Federal and Tigray government. A total of 118,000 mentions were made using the hashtag by 9822 unique authors.

Graph 2: Mention volume trend of the campaign.

Graph 3 below shows that many hashtags were used during the campaign with the leading hashtag and sub hashtags mentioned in the chart. Hashtags like #stopwarontigray, #ExpirencingEthnicProfiling, #RevokeNobelPrize, #WithdrawEritreanTroopsFromTigray also trended. The issues raised ranged from calling an end to genocide on Tigray to showing gratitude to Sudan for receiving refugees fleeing from the conflict zone. #StopWarOnTigray hashtag use has been seen to fade away in the past weeks. Unique to this campaign is that most of the tweets have been tweeted from the USA (11,122) rather than from Ethiopia (6,788).

Graph 3: Hashtags used during the campaign.

• A Twitter campaign with the hashtag #CrisisinEthiopia

This Twitter campaign, according to the organizers, was aimed at showing that a crisis was happening in Oromia, people were dying in many places and those who are feared to lead the Oromo struggle were being thrown into prison without any crime.

Image 4: Call for the campaign using the hashtag #Oromoprotest, CrisisinEthiopia

Graph 4: Mention volume of #EthiopiaCrises. It had reached its maximum peak on Twitter on the 6th of December. The total mention of these tweets was 17,000 by 2,397 unique authors.

• Celebration of the Nation and nationalities day on social media (December 6th-8th)

This year’s annual Nation and Nationalities Day was also celebrated on social media. People who are in favor of Ethiopia’s federation and call it “multinational federal system” organized this social media campaign and the messages were shared by users who support the idea.  For three consecutive days from the 6th of December to the 8th of December, the Federal Government’s logo was used as a profile image in a campaign celebrating the federation.

On December 6 and 7, previous speeches about the benefits of the Constitution and the federal system were shared. On the date of the annual celebration, various articles on the importance of the federal system and the constitution which is the basis of the system were shared.

There were discussions and debates between who supported and criticized the federalism system.

Image 5: Poster promoting the celebration of Nation and Nationalities Day on social media.

Posts by Prominent Activists

The two screenshots below (see Image 6) were posted by a well-known diaspora Tigriyan activist (who has 192,972 followers on Facebook) and another Oromo activist respectively. As we can see, the first post alone has 1.1k reactions and 113 shares and the second post has 1.1k reactions and 350 shares by the time this screenshot was taken. Both posts contain a negative message towards the people of Amhara. The second post used a derogatory term ‘Neftegna’ instead of directly referring to Amhara people.  Such contents need further investigation and monitoring as they might open the door for offensive measures by other ethnic groups against the Amhara.

Translation: This retruning Ethiopia Amhara again (Make Ethiopia Amhara Again) genocide war is not ordinary matter, soon it’s going to consume everyone, as it is about whose turn it is. Therefore, in your surroundings outside your home before it is said “he murdered as much as he can and restored the land” get yourself respected, fight.

Image 6: Posts that may result in offense against Amharas.

A well interacted post post (see Image 7) by a well-known Oromo activist, claimed Amhara officials are disseminating  as though Gumuz ethnics are engaged in cannibalism.

Translation of the post: “what else is hate speech more than this??? “Shanqillas are barbaric who kill and eat the flesh of humans and who then use the bones to beat drum and dance” Imagine that these are the people who preach us about tolerance and unity. What kind of addiction is this to paint people such kind of dirt for their land???  As you can see below, this campaign was opened against Gumuz people and had caused genocide of 400 Gumuze ethnics. Amhara officials are even appearing on TV to disseminate an agenda claiming that Gumuz are eating humans.” And, he attached a post that accuses Gumuz people of cannibalism. The page he shared is anonymous page that has no clear affiliation to Amhara officials.

Image 7: A post claiming that Amhara officials are engaged in disseminating information that claims Gumuz people are doing cannibalism.

In a related note, a Facebook user who claimed to have witnessed dead bodies and testimony of a Gumuz member to have killed and eaten “light skinned” people for traditional custom.  The person claimed to be an education expert in the region at Metekel zone. His post, titled “testimony”, had been reproduced multiple times by other Facebook users and pages and had triggered conversation. In an attempt to confirm if there were peer-reviewed researches that affirm the claim of cannibalism tradition in this community, we found nothing.  However, Amhara regional official also made similar claims on state-run television (see below).

Image 8: A claim that the spiritual ark of St. George in Addis Ababa was stolen from Axum Zion church in Tigray.

Another post (with 663 reactions and 98 shares, see Image 8) claimed that a religious ark that is found in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia had been stolen and brought by the late Emperor Menelik II after the victory of Adwa and further claimed that there is an attempt to take the “ark of covenant”, a sacred ark made by Moses and said to exist at the Axum Zion Church, from Tigray to Amhara region in the name of security.

Speeches by Government Officials

A total of 40:46 minutes of an interview was aired on Amhara mass media agency. The interviewee, the commissioner of the Amhara Regional Police Commission, Abere Adamu stated the following at 35:00-40:00 minutes.

“መተከል ላይ እየተፈፀመ ያለው ግፍ፣ መሳሪያ አይደለም ሌላም እንድታነሳ ያስገድድሀል። ነፍሰ ጡር ሆዷ ተቀዶ የሚበላበት። ሰው በቀስት እየተመታ አንጀቱ አየተጎለጎለ የሚወጣበት… እንዲህ ዓይነት አረመኔያዊ ተግባር በምድር ላይ የሚፈፀመው በመተከል ብቻ ነው’’

Translation- “The cruelty that is happening in Metekel, not only makes you use a weapon but it forces you to do something else… It is a place where a pregnant woman’s stomach is torn and eaten and where a person is being attacked with an arrow and his intestine is pulled out. It is only in Metekel that this kind of barbaric act is being done on earth.’’

It was after this interview, social media users started to label Benshangul Gumuz people as ‘Man eating monster groups’, as shown below in addition to what is referred previously (above).

This Facebook post (see image 9) by an Amhara activist and journalist in exile shows that some ethnic groups are monsters who eat human flesh and cut sexual organs of men as a culture.

Image 9: A post by a journalist in exile claims that to have primitive societies who are cannibals and cut men’s gentiles is a hidden conspiracy to have Ethiopia destroyed

Translation: “We are hearing the news that eating human flesh is Gumuz’s culture. When I was back after visiting Nech Sar Park, people were saying “welcome back without having your thingy cut”. They said there is a culture where the man cannot marry unless he cuts a man’s genitals in that area. In South Omo, there is this what they call a culture of mutilating lips and beating man’s back with stick and even the government promotes to tourists. — Well, nations and nationalities, this backward wilderness is what we brought as a government to lead country. I tell you the truth, it was better if we have fallen under Italian colony than to experience such an indirect colonialism to destroy Ethiopia.”

Online GBV

A very famous, Prosperity Party affiliated activist who has more than 350526 followers posted (see image 9) an attack against the CEO of Ethiotelecom for only wearing a miniskirt woven out of traditional fabrics on an ad. He asks, “what is this now? Is she a #promotion_model or a #Manager? Which criteria has made her competent to lead #Ethio_telecom? A head of a corporation that tied with complex problem should she show #thighs off in ad? Is this woman okay?”

The award winning journalist Reeyot Alemu is a journalist in exile who works for Ethio 360 Media. She was reporting content that supported the military operation against TPLF. It was at this time another TPLF-affiliated social media activist threatened her to release a video that shows when Reeyot was played by the people who were jailed here. Reeyot also replied to her saying that ‘she [the person threatening her] should hurry up before they [TPLF-ites] are buried’.

Image 10: a screenshot of a tweet; translation: “if you are not sitting back quite, I will release a video that shows when they played you when you were in jail.”

These are insensitive comments making fun of and suggesting torturing ways of a woman can be used to intimidate the victim. There are also rumors of tortures of women including sexual abuse. In addition to this, there were other online conversations (pictured below, image 10) that tried to make fun of torturing. Hanging bottles over men’s genitals have

been reported to have been conducted previously by government security officers. Now, following detentions of TPLF affiliates, social media users tried to make a joke out of it, “on what should we hang it?” reads a tweet after Keria Ibrahim (a female TPLF official surrendered to the government) and “her husband’s is hers too”. The conversation goes on like that.

Image 10: Tweets making fun of tortures.

Conclusion

This report is an observation of the online behavior of social media in Ethiopia by using SM monitoring tools, discourse and content analysis. By changing their form and content, social media behaviors are continuing to be a serious concern. This month’s monitoring concluded that influential activists and content producers especially the diaspora are playing a major role in spreading hate, inciting violence and bringing new narratives that might cause conspiracy. Not only posts but comment sections are also the main sources of such behaviors. Additionally, the speeches government officials are making are also another concern, no less than other social media behaviors. The interview of the Amhara police commissioner is a good example of how careless remarks would aggravate a toxic social media conversation. Public figures need to be cautious about the words they use and the way they present them to the public. As a result of this interview, the people of Gumuz are facing dehumanization by the public on social media. It is difficult to determine what this might cause in the offline space as a consequence.

Most importantly, the report raised the issue of online gender-based violence, the most neglected area of concern but a worsening problem on the online platform. The depictions above are good evidence of how the sexist attitude of the society is being reflected on the online platform. Especially the involvement of influential activists and officials in producing similar content, shows the seriousness of the problem and indicates a lot needs to be done.

Moreover, the assessment observed that there is an overlap in what people are talking about and sharing on social media. The usage of different facts might be a contributing reason for the low level of shared attention. There are varying realities shared and therefore people are exposed to different opinions. Social media users, rather than being open and having a civil conversation, prefer using insults and inflammatory terms against each other.

Therefore, the report claims the overall social media engagement is pretty unhealthy.  Hateful content, calls for violence and online GBV are circulating at an alarming rate. Additionally, influential activists and government officials are also contributing to the spread of conspiracies and use of conflict insensitive messages.

All this shows social media behaviors are multifaceted which includes various and complex activities, changing in type and content depending on the existing situations of the country and the societal attitude. Hence, it requires further investigation and more than simple answers.

Loading…

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [1.13 MB]

This social media health report construes the monitoring conducted in the working days between 1st to 15th of November 2020. The Health Report is aimed at mainly assessing the key issues/grievances on social media, the overall dynamics of hate speech in the country, and what they mean for the socio-political development of Ethiopia.

The monitoring of this month includes the overall assessment of social media activities through the platform of Crowd tangle and twitterbider. com. Key issues are determined based on the degree of interaction and the attention it received on social media.

Findings

Key Issues of the Month

In the first 15 days of the month of November, the following issues have been widely discussed:

■ The mass execution of civilians in West Wellega, Oromia. (November 2nd- 3rd)

In Guliso Woreda1, West Wellega zone of Oromia2 Region, 200 Amhara3 people were said to be called and forced to attend a meeting in a schoolyard and executed in mass. This happened hours after the Ethiopian military force left the place. The head of Oromia Regional Communication Bureau, Getachew Balcha said that militants bombed several local farmers after killing them. Out of the 200 people, the exact number of death was not exactly known as there were varying numbers reported. The victims were mostly children, women, and the elderly. According to Amhara Media Center, more than 60 people have been killed in the attack so far. At least 54 Amharas have been killed by militants, Amnesty International said in its statement. Whereas, Reuters news agency quoted Oromia regional officials saying the death toll was 32.

The Oromia massacre has sparked national outrage. The National Movement of Amhara (NAMA),4 said what happened was a genocide. The Amhara Regional State Prosperity Party5, for its part, has called on the federal government to consider the ongoing genocide against Amharas a threat to national security. President of the Oromia region, Shimeles Abdissa, said TPLF6 is training and arming the OLF Shene7 terrorist group operating in the Oromia region. Whereas, the Tigray8 People Liberation Front (TPLF) in turn accused the federal government of using the killings for political gain and called for an independent inquiry. Members of parliament also demanded a report on why the army left the area. The African Union (AU) and European Union(EU) have also raised their concerns about the situation in Ethiopia. “All parties must refrain from inflammatory speech,” African Union (AU) Chairperson Moussa Faki said.

■ A Twitter campaign demanding an independent investigation of the various killings in Ethiopia (November 2nd)

A Twitter campaign was organized demanding an independent investigation into the recent killings of civilians, regional officials, celebrities and military leaders in various parts of Ethiopia. It demands an investigation on who is behind the killings, where the government security forces were by the time the killings took place, why it failed to protect its citizens, and call for prosecution of those who failed to fulfill their responsibilities and take part in organizing and carrying out the assassinations. It additionally called for an international inquiry with the hashtag #IndependentInvestigationNow. Activists including Eyasped Tesfaye have been leading the campaign.

Image: Call for the campaign using the hashtag #IndependentInvestigationNow.

Chart 1: Mention trend of the campaign. 47,000 tweets have been made with the hashtag by 3158 unique authors

The above chart depicts the trend of mentions made using the hashtag #independentinvestigationnow from 2nd- 4th of November. We can see that there were no engagements with regards to that tweet or hashtag prior to the 2nd of November but it reached its peak on the 3rd of November.

Chart 2: Topic wheel of the campaign

As the topic wheel chart above indicates, the hashtag #independentinvestigationnow has been tweeted with the keywords such as ‘killed’, ‘attacks’, ‘civilians’, ‘Innocent’, ‘responsible’, ‘independent’ and other keywords indicated above. The ‘ruling party’, ‘held accountable’, ‘protect civilians’ and ‘Ethiopian government’ were the phrases mostly tweeted on the campaign.

■ The military aggression between the Federal and Tigray governments (November 4th-15th)

The military aggression was first made public on the Facebook page of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. He said that the Tigray Regional State Armed Forces attacked the Northern Command Camp in the state and that the army, under the command of the command post, was “carrying out its mission to save the country”. He said it is a ‘law and order operation’ to bring the TPLF ‘junta’9 to justice and liberate the Tigrayan people.

Tigray Regional government, Dr. Debre Tsion Gebre-Michael, Chief Executive of the Tigray Regional State, however, denied they attacked the Northern command camp and said there are distant and close enemies who declared war on the people of Tigray hence “Tigray security forces are in a position to destroy them’’.

Shortly after the announcement by the prime minister, Internet and telephone service were cut off in Tigray State according to a report released by Netblock, an international group that monitors the country’s internet coverage.

N.B: The exact nature of the situation is not exactly known since both sides are giving contradictory information in most cases.

■ The extension of the opening date of universities and schools. (November 5th)

The Ministry of Science and Higher Education said in its statement that it has decided to delay the call for higher education graduates to return to school on October 23rd. The minister said the delay was due to security concerns in the country. The ministry urged students who have entered higher education institutions in the past days to stay on campus and wait for guidance and those who have not yet left their hometowns to stay where they are.

■ The declaration of a state of emergency in Tigray (November 4th)

The House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR)10 approved the six-month state of emergency in Tigray region declared by the Council of Ministers11. The council said the SOE was needed because the security situation in Tigray violates the constitution and the constitutional order and endangers public peace. The security situation is beyond the control of regular law enforcement and violates the country’s sovereignty, the council added. Attorney General Gedion Timothewos said that the task force is authorized to disarm other militants, including the police, to declare over time and levy restrictions on transportation.

■ The arrest of Journalists (November 4th)

The editor-in-chief of Awlo Media, Bekalu Alamarew was arrested by police in Addis Ababa. The journalist was said to be abducted by Addis Ababa police officers wearing a uniform.

Ethiopian Human Rights Commission commissioner Daniel Bekele tweeted that the Commission was concerned about the arrest of four journalists. The journalists arrested are Haftu Gebre Egziabher, Tsegaye Hadush and Abraha Hagos of the Ethiopian Press Agency, and Udi Musa of the Oromo Media Network (OMN). He called for a look into the matter. Also, CPJ calls on Ethiopian authorities to release editor-in- chief of Awlo Media, Bekalu Alamarew.

■ A social media campaign with the hashtag #SayNoToWarEthiopia (November 4th- 15th)

A campaign that calls for an end to the “war between brothers’’ and call for reconciliation and dialogue to settle the dispute. The main influencers of this campaign were Dr. Senait Mebhratu, BBC Africa, Eleni Gebremehden and Henok Gabisa. A total of 32,000 tweets have been made using the hashtag, by 5910 unique authors until the 12th of November 2020.

Chart 3: volume of #SayNotoWarEthiopia tweet on Twitter.

The above chart depicts the total number of tweets made using the hashtag #SaynotoWarEthiopia from the 4th –12th of November. We can see that it reached its peak on the 10th of November.

Chart 4: Volume of tweets by demography

Chart 4 shows the demography of participants in the campaign. Most of them were from the USA followed by participants from Ethiopia (3357 participants from Ethiopia and 3808 from USA.) This shows this is the only campaign we have seen so far where more tweets have been made from a foreign country. The country with the smallest volume of participation is the Netherlands.

■ The massacre of more than 500 people in Wolkait, Tigray. (November 10th -12th)

A heinous and inhumane killing of hundreds of civilians happened in Maikadra town of Wolkait Woreda in Tigray state. The National Movement of Amhara (NAMA), said in a statement that 523 Amharas were brutally massacred.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Demeke Mekonnen announced on his Facebook page that TPLF militants and their allies have massacred many civilians in Wolkait, Tigray State. According to Amnesty International’s report, It ‘’has not yet been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings, but has spoken to witnesses who said forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) were responsible for the mass killings, apparently after they suffered defeat from the federal EDF forces. Three people told Amnesty International that survivors of the massacre told them that they were attacked by members of Tigray Special Police Force and other TPLF members. The report quotes the statement of a witness saying, “Those wounded told me they were attacked with machetes, axes and knives. You can also tell from the wounds that those who died were attacked by sharp objects.”. The Tigray Regional government, however, condemned the report by Al and said they did not commit

such atrocities against the people of Amhara. They rather blamed the government of Abiy Ahmed and Isayas Afeworki, the Eritrean12 president, for directly or indirectly taking part in the massacre.

■ A social media campaign with the hashtag #TPLFIsTerroristGroup (November 10th- 12th)

This social media hashtag in addition with other hashtags TPLFisaKiller#TPLFmustgo #NoNegotiations#NoMercy was circulated both on Facebook and Twitter especially after the killings of the Maikadra town of Wolkait Woreda, Tigray state was reported on November 10th. People were angered with the news and claimed it was TPLF who did it.

Chart 5: volume of #TPLFisterrioristgroup tweet on twitter.

Chart 5 depicts the total number of tweets made using the hashtag from the 6th – 12th of November. We can see that it reached its peak on the 10th of November where the assassination in Maikadra town was reported. A total of 5541 tweets were made using the hashtag by 2228 unique authors until the 12th of November 2020.

Chart 6: Hashtags used during the campaign.

The Chart above shows that many hashtags were used during the campaign with the leading hashtag and sub hashtags mentioned in the chart. Hashtags like #TPLF mustgo #TPLFsurrender and #maicadramassacre also trended. The issues raised range from grouping TPLF as a terrorist group to calling for International Human Rights Organizations for investigation.

■ The revocation of the right to immunity and issuance of an arrest warrant of TPLF Leaders (November 13-14)

The immunity of 38 individuals, including the President of Tigray Regional State and the Chairman of the TPLF, Dr. Debre Tsion Gebremichael has been revoked. Among those whose immunity has been revoked are senior TPLF leaders including Abay Tsehaye, Getachew Reda, Atsebha Aregawi and others. It’s alleged that the individuals whose immunity has been waived were suspected of various crimes. This includes gross treason, crimes against the constitution and the constitutional order and are also suspected of crimes against the country’s political and territorial integrity, harming the national security forces and participating in terrorist activities as well as being a major actor of terrorism.

The Federal police commissioner said in a statement that it had issued a warrant of arrest of TPLF members accused of treason.

■ The formation of an Interim administration for Tigray Regional state (November 13th)

The House of Federation unanimously approved a resolution calling on the federal government to intervene in the Tigray region and form an interim government (administration). According to the approved regulation, Dr. Mulu Nega has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the administration established in the region. The chief executive becomes part of the temporary administration. They appoint officials from the various legal political parties operating in the region.

■ Rocket attacks in Bahirdar and Gondar (November 13-14th)

Amhara Regional State Communication Bureau reported that there was an explosion in Bahirdar and Gondar on the same day around midnight and was brought under control by security forces. Getachew Reda, spokesperson of the TPLF admitted that TPLF is responsible for the rocket attacks and the strikes targeted military bases in Bahir Dar and Gondar. He said it was in response to the airstrikes in Tigray.

■ The killings of civilians in Benshangul Gumuz13 (November 14)

Benishangul-Gumuz state government said civilians have been killed in an attack in Debate woreda. The regional government says innocent civilians have been killed in attacks by TPLF-backed militants. It also said that the security forces stopped public transport on the road from areas of Wombera,Bulen, Dibate, Chagni and carried out a vicious attack on innocent passengers. But, TPLF said nothing on this.

■ The release of two OLF leaders (November 14th)

Two OLF leaders, who had been detained for about four months, were each released on bail. Lemi Benya, head of the OLF Youth Wing, and Dawit Abdeta, head of organizational affairs in the Oromia Special Zone in Addis Ababa, were released.

■ The arrest of 14 members of Al-Shabaab and ISIS terrorists (November 14th)

The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) said in a statement to the media that 14 members of Al-Shabaab and ISIS terrorists who were planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Addis Ababa and other parts of the country have been arrested.

■ The explosion of a bomb that causes an injury to children (November 14)

Addis Ababa Police Commission said that, in Yeka Sub-City, Woreda 7, in an area known as ‘Captain Demissie’ Village, a bomb which was found while children were playing exploded and they were injured. A 13-year-old boy was seriously injured and four children were slightly injured

■ A rocket attack in Asmara, Eritrea (November 14-15th)

Following Getachew Reda’s warning to attack Eritrea, the city was hit by a rocket. And Dr. Debre Tsion G/Michael, admitting TPLF did it. TPLF told Reuters that it targeted Asmara airport. Whereas, the Eritrean government said they won’t make a counter- attack. No details were reported on this.

■ The fleeing of Ethiopians from the Conflict zone in Tigray to Sudan. (November 15th)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that more than 20,000 Ethiopians have fled the conflict zone in Tigray to Sudan. According to the organization, 12,500 people fled to an area called ‘Hamidat’ and another 7,500 to ‘Al-Luqdi’. Half of the refugees are children and women, most of whom are Tigrigna language speakers; There are also a few injuries, said an official. The refugees were sheltered in temporary shelters in ‘Kesela’ and ‘Gaddafi’ states.

Social Media Analysis

The past 15 days have been marked by a series of agendas. The above- mentioned agendas mainly show that various incidents have taken place in the wake of the tension between the Federal and Tigray government.

The fact that the exact nature of the conflict in the region is unknown, has left the social media environment in a state of disarray, hate and division. This emanates from the fact that both the Federal and Tigray Regional governments are providing contradicting information on what is happening. Though the Prime Minister’s Office launched a new Facebook and Twitter page to provide timely and accurate information on the state of emergency and law enforcement operation established by the government in the Tigray region, the spread of mis/ disinformation is still increasing.

The ways in which the situation is described by different parties are concerning that they might lead to an ethnic clash. Among the ways of describing the situation are : A civil war, Law enforcement operation, genocide on the Tigrean people by the government of Abiy, A war between Amhara and Tigre, a conflict between those who seek unity in Ethiopia and those who are disintegrating Ethiopia and a war between the Ethiopian people and the “Junta”. The inability to know the exact nature of the situation and the release of opposing reports from both sides is greatly contributing to the spread of mis/disinformation and fake news and hatred among people.

When coming to the use of hate speech, hate content was being circulated widely especially following incidents taking place. For instance, The term ’Neftegna’14 showed a significant increase in two incidents. (See the chart below)

Chart 7: Mentions of the term ‘Neftegna’ (in Ge’ez terms) on Twitter

The above chart shows the mentions of the term ’Neftegna’ on Twitter. The word showed an increase on November 2 after the west Wollega killings and on November 4 after the Federal and Tigray governments military aggression started.

In the former case, most of the tweets have blamed the wide-spread use of the term for the attack. As it can be recalled, in West Wellega, 200 Amhara people were attacked hours after the Ethiopian military force left the place. This incident, which incited national outrage was followed by social media content that blamed the widespread use of the term ‘Neftegna’ for the attack, ‘’They call you ‘Neftegna’ while you were alive and ‘innocent’ when you get killed’’. This statement stated that the term ‘’Neftegna’’ is used to attack the people of Amhara, but are oppositely named as innocent when they finally get killed for it.

While in the latter, the term ‘Neftegna’ was used against the targets as the social media posts below clearly indicate. The involvement of the Amhara regional special forces in Tigray caused a perception that Amhara ethnic group is attacking the Tigray ethnic group, hence following that, hate speech against the Amhara was widely used.

image 2: Twitter post. Translation: ‘’Neftegna is the enemy of all nation and nationalities of Ethiopia!!! Other nationalities, do not join in the genocide of Tigrigna-speaking innocent people and save yourself from the guilt of history’’

image 3: This is a Facebook post which calls for brutality against Amhara people who participate on the ongoing military aggression between the federal government and the TPLF group. It claims each of their leg and hand to be cut as a symbol and fed to the beasts.

And there were also contents which have an anti-Tigrean sentiment.

Image 3: This was found in a comment section on a Facebook post about the ongoing war in Tigray region, the comment stated that the people of Tigray are the eternal enemy of Ethiopia. Threats of violence were also part of the social media interaction.

Image 4: The image below is a Facebook comment in response to a post on the frustration of people about bombings and unanticipated attacks on different parts of the country. It stated that bombing of the national palace at 4 kilo is yet to come.

The wide circulation of fake images about the ongoing tension is also another concern. Images from previous incidents in Ethiopia and other countries were fakely used. The image below can illustrate this.

Image 5: The image shows the fighter jets crashed in Ethiopia in 2013 and 2019 and in Sudan in 2020. However, it was shared on social media as if the Tigray Special Forces attacked the military jets of the Defense Force.

Moreover, It’s worrisome that some terms might become newly emerging hate terms unless proper care is taken. The words being used by various government officials in their speeches in the media might open the door to new hate terms to target a certain ethnic/ religious group. Here, it’s important to recall how the term ‘Neftegna’ used by Shimeles Abdisa in his speech years ago, has been and is a viral hate term which still is being used to attack the people of Amhara.

Similarly, We can mention the recent terms ‘Junta’ and ‘Yeshererit Dir’15, used by the Prime Minister and the former president of the Amhara Regional State, Temesgen Tiruneh respectively. “The people of Amhara shall destroy its strategic enemy or the spider, the spider’s web should not exist.” Temesgen Tiruneh said.

Since social media users use new words in a way that suits their online content, it’s concerning these terms might also be emerging hate terms unless caution is taken.

Apart from social media, the News media is also a concern. They are spreading conspiracies. The image to the left can illustrate this. It says ‘Demonstrations were held to intensify the declared war on Tigray.’ The phrase ‘’…the declared war on Tigray.’ is misinforming and dangerously hate inciting among people.

Conclusion

This report has attempted to analyse online hate speech and fake news in Ethiopia by using CARD’s social media mapping reports, discourse and content analysis. The 15 days assessment report concluded that the current social media acts are becoming a serious concern. Not only on posts but comment sections are also the main sources of hate speech. Additionally, accounts are being used to spread fake news, incite violence and to spread hateful content related to the current tension. The existing condition especially shows how the low level of transparency of the government bodies in giving accurate and timely information is opening the door for fake news. Not only that, new and viral words used by government officials in their speeches in the media might be paving the way for newly emerging hate terms.

Moreover, the assessment observed that there is an overlap in what people are talking about and sharing on social media. The usage of different facts might be a contributing reason for the low level of shared attention. There are varying realities shared and therefore people are exposed to different opinions. Social media users, rather than being open and having a civil conversation, prefer using insults and inflammatory terms.

Therefore, the report asserts that the overall social media engagement is unhealthy and hateful contents as well as calls for violence are being produced and circulating at an alarming rate. Moreover, the News media are also spreading conspiracies and using conflict insensitive methods of reporting. This is the time where the problems need to be well-addressed before they lead to an unforeseen ethnic clash.

Loading…

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [1.10 MB]

References

1. The term woreda (District in English) refers to the smallest unit of an administrative division.
2. Oromo is a member of an ethnic tribe located mostly at Central Ethiopia whose dominant language is oromiffa (Kushtic)
3. Amhara is member of an ethnic tribe located at the north and north west of Ethiopia whose dominant language is Amharic (Semetic)
4. National movement of Amhara (NAMA), is an opposition political party, established to ensure the interests of Amhara and defend them from ethnic- based attacks in different parts of Ethiopia.
5. Amhara prosperity party is the Amhara region wing representing the present federal government of Prosperity party
6. TPLF, popularly known as Wayane, is a political party in Ethiopia which is said to be a struggle for the Freedom of Tigray. It led a coalition of movements named the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) from 1989 to 2018. It ruled Ethiopia until its refusal to merge into the Prosperity Party in 2019.
7. Oromo Liberation Front Shine (OLF Shine) is an organization which is said to be “part of OLF”,an organization said to be founded to bestow freedom to the Oromo people.
8. Tigre is member of an ethnic tribe located at the north of Ethiopia whose dominant language is Tigrigna (Semetic)
9. Junta is a term mostly used for an army (part of an army/government) who has been identified as a “bandit” or treacherous. PM Abiy Ahmed in this case referred to TPLF as Junta.
10. The House of Peoples’ Representatives is the lower chamber of the Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly,having 547 members who are elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies.
11. The Council of Ministers is the cabinet of the Government of Ethiopia. It is the country’s executive body.
12. Ertirea is a country in Eastren Africa, formerly a part of Ethiopia that has undergone cessation from Ethiopia during the period of EPRDF
13. Benshangul Gumuz is one of the regional states of Ethiopia and is located in the north-western part of Ethiopia, They speak the Gumuz language (Nilo- Saharan family)
14. Neftegna (“riflemen” in English) is a term formerly used to define an ordinary solider of Amharas’ descent. However, now is one of the hate words used to define any person from any ‘Amharas’ lineage and in some cases the Orthodox Religion in a provocative way.
15. Yeshererit dir’(English-Spider Web) is an unravelable web wrapped around oneself and cannot be destructed unless one kills the spider which wove it. Former President of the Amhara Region, Mr. Temesgen Tiruneh, referred TPLF as the spider and the chain amongst them as the web.

This social media health report construes the monitoring conducted from 1st to 31st of October 2020. The Health Report is aimed at assessing mainly the key issues/grievances on social media, the overall dynamics of hate speech in the country, and what they mean for the socio- political development of Ethiopia.

The monitoring for this month includes the overall assessment of social media activities through the platform of Crowd tangle. Key issues are determined based on the degree of interaction and the attention it received on social media.

Findings

Key Issues of the Month

In the month of October, the following issues have been widely discussed:

• The strict or intense checkpoints at entry points into Addis Ababa before the celebration of Irrecha festival. Some people associated the restriction with potential protests planned ahead of the festival. (October 1st-October 3rd).
• The news from the National Intelligence and Security Service about detaining a Terrorist group that was planning on carrying out a terrorism act. (October 1st).
• The requirement of badges for the celebration of Irreecha festival and the basis for handing out those badges have outraged some people. The officials have allowed only five hundred people to attend the event (October 1st – October 3rd).
• The federal Government suspending the subsidiary budget allocated to Tigray Regional State have been controversial news. (October 7th)
• Tigray Regional Government counters against the Federal Government by proposing the refusal of Revenue f rom that Regional State. (October 9th)
• A campaign claiming that the current Ethiopian Prime Minister and his Government do not have a constitutional mandate to govern the country. (October 5th–7th)
• The killings of more than 30 civilians in Gura Ferda Woreda of Bench Sheko zone in SNNPR. (October 21st – 27th)
• The killings in the East Wollega Zone of the Oromia Region, Nekemte. (October 23- October 25).
• A 24-hour Twitter campaign on the killings of more than 300 Ethiopians by security forces in the past three months. (October 22th-October 24th)
• The movement restriction imposed on orthodox Christians who were on their way to Zkuala Monastery for a spiritual celebration. (October 14th-October 16th)
• The news about the mandatory requirement of two local languages to be employed in government offices in Addis Ababa. This was later disclaimed as false information. (October 23rd)
• The warning by Amhara Regional Authorities that prohibits the Rally the opposition party National Movement of Amhara (NAMA) called to denounce the attacks on the Amhara Ethnic group. (October 25th-October 29th)

Social media Interaction

The issues/grievances levelled as key were circulated on social media with a wide number of interactions and were shared and discussed by several users.

■ The strict or intense checkpoints at entry points into Addis Ababa

The entry points in Addis Ababa were said to be restricted for ‘safety’ issues. This news was first checked on a Facebook page named ‘Ethiopia Check’ and has been shared and discussed as it makes people feel stranded and their freedom of movement restricted. Though some were supporting the measures taken, criticisms were widely coming from everywhere especially from Oromo nationalists ready to celebrate Irreecha festival and Orthodox Christians coming from Monasteries to Addis Ababa. There were also allegations of searching some youths based on unknown criteria, some were being forced out of the buses and their IDs checked. Amhara nationalists, on their part, opposed the move, saying it was a purposive attempt to push out the Amhara from the capital of Ethiopia. However, hate content has not been noticed by social media users while expressing their views. Everyone on their part has been criticizing the government as well as calling for an immediate intervention so that travellers (including Infants, pregnant women, the elderly, and sick persons) don’t have to suffer.

■ The requirement of badges for people celebrating Irreecha in Addis Ababa

This requirement was publicized through state media and was said to be done because of the nature of COVID 19 and social distancing. People took it to social media to voice their anger about the decision from the government as many thought it was a political move by the government to prevent political protests. There were also complaints raised that badges were being given to ‘Government cadres’, while those deserving to take part were purposely neglected from the celebration.

■ The detaining of a Terrorist group that was planning on carrying out a terrorism act.

After this news was reported by the state media, it was widely discussed because it was highlighted as a terrorism act that is a high-security risk for Ireecha celebration. Various stands were expressed, while some were in fear of what the celebration would bring, others said it was a security cover-up drama to violate the rights of those who celebrate it. Other than expressing what people felt, inappropriate online content was not part of the discussion.

■ A campaign on the current Ethiopian Prime Minister and his Government constitutional mandate to govern the country

This campaign was prepared to claim the end of the constitutional mandate of the current government to govern the country with the hashtags #AbiyisExpired #Abiymustgo and #Oromoprotest. It was initiated by Oromo activists including Eyasped Tesfaye. It was widely discussed starting on the 5th and 7th of October particularly because the term of the current government is set to constitutionally terminate on the 5th where the House of Federation and House of Representatives will open to resuming the 6th session. It was a call for the formation of a transitional government. Though widely campaigned on the 5th and 6th of October. It continued until October 12 with decreasing engagements.

As it is a campaign, participants were echoing the purpose of the campaign and trying to achieve the desired result. Though there were different positions reflected from some non-participants, the differences were not unhealthy.

■ The rivalry between the Federal Government and Tigray Regional Government

This concerns the suspension of the subsidiary budget allocated to Tigray Regional State and Tigray Regional Government counters against the Federal Government by proposing the refusal of Revenue from that Regional State.

The decision of the House of Federation (HOF) to stop relationships with the federal government, was the agenda which caught many by surprise. However, the relationship with the local institutions at Kebele, Woreda, and the city level will still be continued.

Many people were shocked and expressed their concern about where the relationship between the Federal and the Tigray Regional Government was heading to. And others were showing their belief that this was the only way to destroy TPLF, reacting “Now we’ll see what they will eat’’.

■ The 24-hour Twitter campaign

The campaign, in which Oromo activists, including Eyasped Tesfaye, Samuel Bekele, and Jawar Mohammed’s wife took part, is said to be aimed at raising awareness among Ethiopians and the International community about the killings of government security forces in Oromia, Somali and Wolayita zones in the past three months. This was widely discussed on the 21st and 22nd of October with the hashtags #3ooLives3Months and #ProblemIsTyrannyNotEthnicity and overlapping hashtags #oromoprotests #wolayita and #somali.

It received millions of interactions and views within 24 hours and also received media coverage. There were some differing positions reflected from some non-participants, particularly on the calling of such a campaign without properly recognizing the attacks on other ethnic groups in the wake of the assassination of Hachalu Hundesa. There were conversations on these different stands, where people express what they feel was right.

■  The movement restriction of Zekwala monastery travellers

The sudden movement restriction imposed on Orthodox Christians who were on their way to Zekwala monasteries angered and saddened many because it was considered as a religiously motivated attack by the ‘anti-orthodox’ government. Passengers were forced to walk for hours after the buses were stopped without being told why. The East Shoa Zone Communication Department said this was taking into account COVID19, while the Oromia police commissioner said it was decided according to a letter from the monastery. The head of the monastery, however, said they have written no letter and we are saddened by the inappropriate measure taken.

This news was first shared on social media by people who came to hear about the restriction from their closed ones. It has been an issue of discussion and Ethio check has also reported about it after checking the fact. It was considered as religious hatred and attack under the guise of COVID19 prevention, which violated freedom of religion.

■  The requirement of two local languages to be employed in government offices in Addis Ababa.

This was first reported on Sheger 102.1 Facebook page with the headline

‘’It said that it is mandatory to know 2 local languages to be employed in government offices in Addis Ababa’’. This report caused confusion and anger among Addis Ababa residents and Amharic speakers. It was considered as a plot to keep these parties out of the game. On the other hand, some parts of the society who feel isolated because of their language were seen supporting the idea.

Two days later Addis Ababa city administration made a disclaimer statement that ‘’ The rumor that dual language is mandatory for employment is untrue’’.

■  The Gura Ferda violence

Civilians in Gura Ferda Woreda of Bench Sheko zone in SNNPR were killed. Even if different numbers of deaths are mentioned by different media, it can be understood from various reports that over 30 civilians lost their life. Also, an unknown number of people were injured and more than 1500 displaced. The attack was said to be carried out by “Unidentified gunmen’’.

It was one of the hot topics circulated for longer days. The attack was given different meanings from different sides particularly the attack on Amhara on one side and the killings of Muslim Amhara’s on the other. Also, there were some trials to link the attack of Amhara Muslims with the recent statement of Abune Mathewos Orthodoxes to organize and defend.

■  The killings in Nekemte

The killings in the East Wollega Zone of the Oromia Region, Nekemte, which led to the death of 5 young citizens, shot by government security forces. This killing was widely discussed by Oromo people. Oromo activists were saying it is civilians who have been the target of attack. ‘’The dictatorial regime is brutally killing oromos’’ was the idea mainly reflected following the killings. On the other hand, Commander of the Oromia Special Police in Nekemte said the dead were bandits and members of Abba Torbe.

■  The prohibition of the Rally called by NAMA

There was a warning by Amhara Regional Authorities prohibiting the Rally that the opposition party National Movement of Amhara(NAMA) called to denounce the attacks on the Amhara Ethnic group. Later on that date, NAMA posted on its Facebook page that their office in Addis Ababa has been surrounded by Police while their senior officials were in a meeting.

Agreeing on its importance, many were waiting for the rally and the ban made them outrageous. Following this, a significant number of Ethiopians including celebrities condemned the killings and called the government to take action. On social media, a division was observed concerning the ‘Sene 15’ incident (between those who are from the birthplace of Dr. Ambachew and the alleged killer Asaminew Tsige). The disappointed groups (Dr. Amabachew’s side) were demonstrating as no one from their side will go out for it.

The Mainstream media’s response

These agendas which were circulating on social media, didn’t get as much coverage from the media. Even though media coverage was provided, it is difficult to say they are focused and contributing as expected.

For every grievance a certain group encounters, it is mostly the media that considers itself as the voice of that certain group doing the report. And this is usually very similar to the views that certain groups reflect on social media. Moreover, the reports themselves are not well-founded and free from bias. It’s crucial to mention the differences observed in the manner of reporting of the State and private media.

State media are becoming a platform that consistently disclaims what the private and social media users claim a certain agenda to be. The issues on the movement restriction into Addis Ababa for the annual Irreecha festival, detaining of a terrorist group that was planning on carrying out a terrorism act, the requirement of badges for the celebration of Irreecha festival and the ban imposed on the Zekwala monastery travellers are examples.

All these issues were reported by private media differently than the state media. The Ireecha festival-related concerns got the coverage of mainly Oromia media, the Zekwala travellers issue was given attention by EOTC and Abbay media echoing the concern of the people as they perceive it to be motivated by religious prejudice, whereas, the relation between the Federal government and Tigrean Regional state was the big concern of Tigray TV and DW. While these medias criticize the government, the state media on its part, was disclaiming what those media have reported.

Most one-sided media were only reflecting the grievances in such a manner. The Gura Ferda and Nekemete incidents best explain this. The Gura Ferda’s incident was the main concern of Amhara Medias, whereas Oromo Medias took the biggest hand in reporting the Nekemte’s incident. It should be noted that both sides are reflecting their political stand and the views of the group they are saying to represent.

Overall, mainstream media are in various aspects failing to fulfil their responsibilities.

Analysis

Social Media is being highly overwhelmed by new agendas now and then. Almost the whole mainstream and social media discourses nowadays are predominantly overwhelmed by reports and analyses of violence, genocide, extra-judicial killings, riots and strikes especially following the politics of exclusion and deprivation.

There are various responses and findings to the fact that the climate for tensions are likely to become more conducive in countries such as Ethiopia where the political stakes are high, similar to the approaching election.

The October social media trend indicates a different interaction. In situations where the political stakes are high, the instability adds a huge sum to the nationwide crisis. Governance related malpractices are being challenged, as people begin to understand what they have to ask as a right. Hence, these days, social media users are using the platforms to show how the government is failing them consistently. Though the trend of hate speech has diverted into criticizing the government, the online space still is tensioned. Biased and conflict insensitive reporting of mainstream media, lack of government transparency, lack of information, voice suppression and injustice are adding fuel to the online spaces.

In this regard, the media is failing to fulfill its responsibilities. It can be said it is becoming a concern no less important than social media. Unless they are able to carry out a non-biased and fact-based reporting system they will impact negatively creating suspicion and hatred among the public. If the media turns a deaf ear, to fill up the gap the disgruntled community will continue to use social media in whatsoever way to make their grief and abuse known. As people need their voices heard, their choice is to go to social media and use every opportunity to show how their right as citizens is degraded. It is extremely concerning that such online behaviors might highly trigger offline activities. Such tensions impact negatively and aggravate the damming socio-political situations of the country. This reinforces the fact that political instability, especially when it is of a violent nature, makes the victim aggressive and unpredictably dangerous as demands remain unanswered. As the problem is multifaceted which includes ethnic, religious and electoral related demands, their solution also requires more than simple answers. Unless the government properly responds to the demands of the people, the anger and opposition on social media are likely to escalate offline violence and strike. These tendencies exacerbate civil wars, religious and ethnic rivalries, and the emergence of electoral violence. Hence, these political problems require immediate political solutions.

Conclusion

This report has tried to articulate the health of the social media platform using CARD’s social media mapping tool, discourse and content analysis. The trend nowadays is becoming different from what it was before. Much of the social media tension is stemming from the political crisis in Ethiopia. The problems can only be solved when the political crisis is resolved. The mainstream media also took the lion share in aggravating the problem. The gap is contributing to the perpetuation of a tensioned social media environment.

The report claims the month of October shows a different trend where the users are rather using it for political criticism and protest. As the problem is complex and multifaceted, the government should seriously work on the way forward and give a political situation. The same recommendation goes for media platforms.

Loading…

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download