Mereja Forum

[Alpha]

Abiy says the internet is not air or water; it is not important. He says that ...

The 14 Provinces

[Maxi]

[Alpha]

She is right. That is one of the question he should answer.

[Sam Ebalalehu]

I do not agree with the headline. Restricting internet access is not a criminal act, but a bad policy. Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen in the NEW Digital Age, published 2013, argue the internet as a " 'lawless' space, ungoverned and ungovernable by design. Its decentralized makeup and constantly mutating interlinking structure make government attempts to 'control' as futile." But they pointed out states have power " over the physical infrastructure connectivity requires--the transmission towers, the routers, the switches--they control the entry, exit and waypoints for internet data." I wish Abiy has to be the first Ethiopian leader to acknowledge that it is impossible to imagine a future without the internet.

[Alpha]

I do not agree with the headline. Restricting internet access is not a criminal act, but a bad policy. Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen in the NEW Digital Age, published 2013, argue the internet as a " 'lawless' space, ungoverned and ungovernable by design. Its decentralized makeup and constantly mutating interlinking structure make government attempts to 'control' as futile." But they pointed out states have power " over the physical infrastructure connectivity requires--the transmission towers, the routers, the switches--they control the entry, exit and waypoints for internet data." I wish Abiy has to be the first Ethiopian leader to acknowledge that it is impossible to imagine a future without the internet.

Why don't you agree with the headline? The government must not attempt to control the internet at all. I find it only good that the internet is difficult to control.The government can make laws against people who misuse the internet but shutting down the whole internet in order to control them is a criminal act.

[opmerc]

It is by definition not a 'crime' if there is no local law abridging it. As for creating new laws specifically to punish those who misbehave on the internet, technical mechanisms to properly identify such people don't even exist in 1st world countries let alone in Ethiopia. Secondly, it would only be punitive or after the fact, not preventative. So such laws have zero effect on saving lives or on preventing, say, a genocide from occurring. They can only go so far as to punish some of those who were responsible, if you manage to properly identify them.

In an atmosphere where a mob of students can all of a sudden form to go lynch another student on the basis of rumor or when a group of villagers stone someone to death for what they think he might be doing before actually making sure he is doing it, it is a dangerous thing to include a tool that allows such rumors to instantly reach all corners of the country.

I would love to give my fellow Ethiopians the benefit of the doubt, assume they are mature enough to discern information and it's validity and behave in a calm collected manner even after receiving what they believe is bad news. Unfortunately that's not the case. Until we change our emotion filled culture and learn to respect the life of our fellow man first before our pride or ego, there is no other way other than to cut off the internet when temper fueling things occur.

[Alpha]

Okay I admit the title is a bit strong.I am moderating it.