Facebook Live and YouTube broadcasts were spreading misinformation and ethnic hate speech among Ethiopians at home and abroad as political tensions rose in 2019, Endalkachew Chala reported for Global Voices.
A smartphone showing the Facebook login screen, May 2015 (William Iven / Unsplash via Wikimedia Commons, CC0) [file photo]
Many Ethiopians treat Facebook as the internet itself, and it became the main portal for news after the government stopped blocking diaspora opposition websites, ended politically motivated content filtering and eased surveillance of journalists, the report said. Broadcasts appear mainly in Amharic and Afan Oromo; Tigrinya and Somali are also major online languages.
Global Voices described rival commentators, mostly based abroad, streaming from their homes to audiences of hundreds of thousands of followers and tens of millions of YouTube views, with viewers organizing online watch parties. It said many streams shared inaccurate or false claims and deepened echo chambers between Amhara and Oromo audiences.
After the June 22, 2019, killings of the Amhara regional president, his adviser and the region's attorney general, rumors spread on Facebook that the assassinations were a plot by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to eliminate Amhara leaders, the report said. It said the armed group was commanded by Gen. Asaminew Tsige, the region's security chief.
In July, activists began flagging violent posts to Facebook through its reporting tool, but one told Global Voices most of what he reported stayed online. Facebook had hired an Ethiopian market specialist for sub-Saharan Africa, but it was unclear whether the role covered moderating Amharic content, the outlet said.
Sources: Endalkachew Chala, Global Voices