"The longest
mobile Internet service shutdown follows escalating protests which began in
November last year, with the Oromo people calling for freedom.
Security personnel attempt to stop protesters earlier this month in Bishoftu in the midst of the Oromo's Irrechaa celebrations - their thanksgiving festival. (Tiksa Negeri, Reuters)
All mobile internet services have been shut down in Ethiopia for
the last seven days, amid increasingly violent protest scenes and a recently
declared “state of emergency”.
Demonstrations have taken place with regular frequency in
Ethiopia’s Oromia region since November 2015, with protesters demanding greater
self-rule, freedom and respect for the ethnic identity of the Oromo people, who
have experienced systematic marginalisation and persecution over the last
quarter century.
Authorities have used deadly force against the protesters on
more than one occasion. On October 2 alone, 52 people were killed. The Oromo Federalist
Congress (OFC), an opposition party, has reported a death toll of nearly 600
people.
While select social media and messaging platforms such as
WhatsApp have been shut down sporadically as protests have grown more intense,
in Addis Ababa, the capital, this is the longest sustained mobile Internet
service shutdown that has taken place since they began.
The sudden silence of the protests on social media has left
those tracking the movement over Facebook and Twitter worried.
Mobile internet, social media cut for +7 days in the "African capital" #AddisAbaba. Gov spox says service will be back "when deemed safe"...
The mobile Internet blackout is also likely resulting in a
decrease in online news about the protests. Activists fear that the protest
movement, which has relied on social media both for coordination and for
circulating their message to international audiences, will be severed from
their primary means of communication. Despite low Internet penetration in
Ethiopia, social media is becoming essential – especially for the protest
movements in Oromia and Amhara regional states. Newsfeeds from Facebook pages
and Twitter feeds from Ethiopia are not showing the same abundance of posts as
they were a week ago.
The government has been cutting off connectivity and blocking
social media in Oromia and Amhara regions over the past 12 months. In June they
blocked social media in the name of preventing exam leaks, but now it is not
clear whether the government is switching off all mobile internet services as a
precursor to the ongoing protest, or if the measure is intended as a reaction
to protests. Those close to the situation fear this may be the beginning of a
dangerous new phase after 12 months of protests. – Globalvoices.org
Source: Mail & Guardian Africa
No comments:
Post a Comment