39 Global News Post 3
bouknight4
Ayene, M. [Ethiopian men read newspapers during the October 2015 internet shutdown]. (2016). https://s.rfi.fr/media/display/fe560508-bf30-11ed-930c-005056a90284/w:980/p:16×9/AP17073294238062.webp
Published by Radio France Internationale (RFI), this article titled “Rights Group Amnesty Calls on Ethiopia to End Social Media Blackout,” talks about the limit that the Ethiopian government has put on social media. RFI is a French current affairs radio station that shares information worldwide in 14 different languages. RFI’s editorial teams consist of an international network of over 400 journalists to get a wider view on the world.
For the past month, it has been reported that Ethiopian authorities have limited its people from using social media platforms. The most used platform in Ethiopia is currently rumored to be Facebook. With this, Ethiopian authorities have banned Facebook, Telegram, Tik Tok, and YouTube within the country. Amnesty International, a global movement organization that works to protect human rights, has now urged the Ethiopian government to remove the ban on social media usage. They have reported that other internet censorship “watchdogs” have also testified that the social media networks have been blocked for over a month. Because of the current civil war happening between the Ethiopian government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the Tigray region has been restricted from their personal life. In addition to social media, the Tigray region has also experienced connectivity interruptions that were caused by the government in response to the civil war. Ethiopians are no longer able to use social media to find out information or hear about current news events happening online. Protests are now occurring within the country where people are trying to fight for their rights to freely use social media.