The "Corridor Development" is a Façade of the Prosperity Party

Befekadu Hailu

I have seen a news report claiming that 40% of central Addis Ababa will be demolished for the corridor development; I am not able to confirm the validity of the news but it sounds real to me given the size of massive operations in the demolition of old neighborhoods and construction of bike lanes, green areas, and glittering street lights. I like to see some beauty added to my city but cannot help mourning the slow death of it too.

Addis Ababa was already in a huge crisis of housing and the demolition of houses is exacerbating it.

Apparently, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is eager to showcase his vision of prosperity by demonstrating how fast his administration can do magic by beautifying the front sides of the streets with lights, new pavements, and painted fences ("to fake it until he makes it" in my friend's words). Therefore, he and his party do not care about the miserable human stories behind the scenes and they will harass you if you tell it (Azeb Woku's case in point). The corridor development is a façade because, however beautiful and bright they look from the outside, there are untold, ugly, and sad stories from behind.

The new pavement down the area formerly known as Mahmoud. 

A façade is defined as "an outward appearance that is maintained to conceal a less pleasant or creditable reality", exactly what the corridor development is about.

The corridor development is happening without MEANINGFUL consultation of affected communities and experts. People are displaced without proper notice, without timely relocation or resettlement, and without a majority's consent. Experts are appalled by the recreation of the city with disregard for its history, geography, and economy. It is a spontaneous, random, copycat of foreign cities without enough planning and reasonable time of construction that compromised quality. The long-term outcome of the development activity for the city and its economy remains contested and left to fate. The corridor development prioritizes showing off glittering streets while destroying resilient communities. The neighborhoods of Addis Ababa have strong communities that function within successive and concurrent failures of regimes to alleviate poverty. The informal economies that the communities built up and helped them persevere bad days are broken overnight due to it. In the new lives these communities are forced to live, there is no social support system that they can rely on to survive the bad days as they did together before. 

From Sexist to Feminist: If I could do it, anyone can too

 This piece is inspired by a conversation between Soli and Tsion, two political women in Ethiopia, on Ajrit podcast. Ajrit podcast is run by Addis Powerhouse, a feminist online advocacy platform. In this episode, Soli refers to an article she and Mahi wrote on Zone 9 blog and received a response from myself and Endalk, along with others. Soli stressed how ridiculous we were in our response and was forced to revisit it. I still didn't recover from the embarrassment of learning that I used to think like that. 

Short-Lived Victory: A Case of Mistaken Progress

 Befekadu Hailu 

My friends and myself, who passed through Maekelawi's torturous experience, along with others campaigned and had the government decide to close the most notorious Detention Center that live three regimes and almost half a century in Ethiopia. In February 2019, Five years after I was detained and tortured in Maekelawi, I went to the closing Center to fetch my laptop confiscated five years before. I arrived while the name tag of the Center was being shattered and one of the uniformed guards said to me, “you have this place closed”; I shrugged like ‘proudly’. That little moment gave me a sense of victory, telling me that the activism and its subsequent sacrifice was not in vain. I felt we actually effected a change. Six years later, I started to doubt it all retrospectively. 

The political transition that started six years ago is known by many as ‘the change’ (lewtu in Amharic), but what really explains it is ‘the violence’ (newtu in Amharic). 

How Did We Get Here? 

I have gotten the chance to take part in the Human Rights Forum 2024 hosted by The Carter Center in the third week of May 2024 in Atlanta, US. In my keynote address, I have spoken to participants with my reflection on the works of human rights defenders based on my experience in Ethiopia. I don’t know how resonating my speech was to the audience but it was my moment to pause and reflection. 

Telling the story of how fast we dived from optimism to pessimism, I said: 

“After 2018, the growing expectations of human rights defenders were dashed by a false promise of change. 

“Retrospectively speaking, Ethiopian HRDs are not the only ones to lose momentum for a false promise of change. In the MENA region, most of the revolutions of 2011 have led to worse crises in their respective countries.  

“Ethiopia's neighboring Sudan had had a very exciting street revolution against Omar al-Bashir’s 26 years of dictatorship. A couple of years later, two power mongering generals are waging war on each other and their people. In all their defense, the Sudanese activists have tried their best to ensure the establishment of a civil government but it was not as easy.  

“The point is - we, human rights defenders, can force changes in protests or pressures; but, our commitment to maintain the changes with principles remains weak. We get fragmented, our priorities fast change, we retire early, we get burned out, we trust people in power forgetting that power corrupts people, and most importantly we forget that there won’t be democratization without the institutions. Then, we have the changes stolen and regret them.”

The Smear Campaign Against the Smallest Attempt to Pacificism in Ethiopia

My observation of the repressive culture of political groups in order to monopolize the political narrative in and around Ethiopia. 

As I mostly do, I write this piece to express my frustration, not my surprise. 

Recently, starting in mid-August 2022, a few civil society organizations leaders have gathered to consult to make our voices for peace collectively; for sustainable peace. To come up with a shared statement was not an easy task to do. We have done it on the eve of the Ethiopian new year in early September 2021 and it was difficult; it is difficult again a year later even though for the past few months, major warring parties in the Tigray war, have silenced their guns for humanitarian truce after the Ethiopian government unilaterally declared and the TPLF later accepted it conditionally. Even though the guns were temporarily silenced, the war propaganda was escalating slowly. We were worried because if the war starts again, we are going back to the era which is worse than we are in. That time, even though a peacebuilding process didn't start, at least people were not dying on daily basis. Therefore, we wanted to be stronger in our calls. The purpose was to renew the peace call from last year but also to actually encourage involved parties to resume their peace talk and stop the heated exchange of words. 

In the planning meeting, everyone has their own interpretation of words and phrases to be used. Everyone is overly concerned about how that party or this party misunderstands our messages; we are worried about the reactions of the media, social media, and every other stakeholder. We didn't want the controversies over anecdotes to cover the message. We thought it is our chance to make 'peace' at the epic center of the political discourse. By doing so, we thought we can make violent conflicts difficult for any party that might choose it. 

We have managed to reach the last draft and started to disseminate it to other CSOs who want to endorse it via email. The number of signatories started to grow and we have finally reached 35. Last year, only 24 CSOs have signed on it. This year, on May 3 when we renewed the call to hold on to the humanitarian truce with a call for sustainable peace and unfettered access to media freedom, we have 20 signatories. This is by far the biggest number but we didn't do enough effort, to keep it growing. We were competing with time. We believe people have had enough to reach the fatigue of war. 

‘አገናዛቢነት’ የሌለው ተዋስዖ

ሁሉም ሰዎች ይናገራሉ፤ ሁሉም ሰዎች ብሶት አላቸው። ነገር ግን የሁሉም ንግግር እና ሐሳብ የሁሉንም ሁኔታ ያገናዘበ አይደለም። በዚህም ምክንያት ተናጋሪ እንጂ አዳማጭ የለም፤ ብሶት እንጂ አዘኔታ የለም። ምክንያቱም ‘አገናዛቢነት’ የለም፤ አንዳቸው የሌላኛቸውን ሁኔታ እና እውነታ ለማገናዘብ ሲሞክሩ አይታይም።

አገናዛቢነት የሚናገሩት ነገር ያለበትን ጥቅል ሁኔታ ከግምት ውስጥ ለማስገባት መሞከር ነው። ብዙዎቹ በኢትዮጵያ ቀውስ ውስጥ የሚያነጋግሩን ክስተቶች ድንገታዊ መነሻ ይኑራቸው እንጂ ታሪካዊ፣ ባሕላዊ፣ ሃይማኖታዊ፣ ኢኮኖሚያዊ፣ ወይም አካባቢያዊ አንድምታ ይኖራቸዋል። እነዚህን ማገናዘብ ያስፈልጋል፤ የፖለቲካ ተዋስዖዎቹ የአንድን ወገን በደል፣ የአንድን ክስተትን አደገኝነት፣ ወዘተርፈ አተኩረው ሊናገሩ ይችላሉ። ጉዳዮቹ ግን ከአንድ ወገንም፣ ከአንድ ክስተትም የሰፉ እና ውስብስብ ናቸው። ውስብስብነታቸውን ያላገናዘበ ንግግር ችግሩን የመፍታት አቅም ከማጣቱም ባሻገር፣ ምናልባትም ችግሩ ላይ ተጨማሪ ችግር ሊቆልል ይችላል።

ግጭት አገናዛቢነት

የነውጥ አዘል ግጭቶች ቦታዎችና ክስተቶች ዳታ (ACLED) የተባለ እ.አ.አ. በ2019 ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ 300 ገደማ የፖለቲካ ነውጦች፣ 680 ያህል ሰዎች መገደላቸውን ሪፖርት አድርጎ ነበር። የ2020ውን ገና ቆጥረው የጨረሱት አይመስለኝም፤ ሆኖም ከዚህ ጽሑፍ ጋር ሕዳር ወር ላይ ያወጡትን ግጭቶች ያሉባቸውን ቦታዎች የሚያመለክት ካርታ አስቀምጥላችኋለሁ።

ግጭቶች የኢትዮጵያ ፖለቲካ እውነታዎች ናቸው። ግጭቶች እዚህም እዚያም አሉ። ነገር ግን የፖለቲካ ተዋስዖዎቹ ግጭት አገናዛቢ አይደሉም። መጀመሪያ ግጭት አገናዛቢነት ስንል ምን ማለታችን እንደሆነ ግልጽ ለማድረግ ልሞክር።

ግጭት አገናዛቢነት ማለት “ንግግሮች እና ተግባራት ፖለቲካዊ፣ ታሪካዊ፣ ማኅበራዊና ነባራዊ ዐውዱን ከግምት ውስጥ በማስገባት፣ በተናጋሪዎቹ ወይም በተግባራቱ አከናዋኞች ላይም ይሁን በተደራሲዎቻቸው ላይ ወይም በሌሎች ሦስተኛ ወገኖች ላይ የሥነ ልቦናዊም ይሁን የአካላዊ ጥቃት ሊያደርስ የሚችል ቋንቋ ባለመጠቀም ወይም ተግባር ባለማከናወን ግጭት አስወጋጅ የንግግር እና አሠራር ሒደት” ማለት ነው።

ብዙዎቹ በፖለቲከኞች፣ በአክቲቪስቶች፣ ወይም ጋዜጠኞች የሚደረጉት ተዋስዖዎች ንግግሮቹ ስለሚያስከትሉት ጦስ እምብዛም አይጨነቁም። በዚህም ምክንያት በግጭት ላይ ግጭት፣ በቀውስ ላይ ቀውስ እየተደራረበ ይሔዳል። በነገራችን ተፅዕኖ ፈጣሪ ሰዎች የተናገሯቸው ንግግሮች የጥላቻ ወይም ሐሰተኛ መረጃ በውስጣቸው ሳይኖር ነባራዊውን እውነታ እና ዙሪያ ገቡን ከግምት ውስጥ ያላስገቡ በመሆናቸው ብቻ - በሌላ አነጋገር ግጭት አገናዛቢ ባለመሆናቸው ሳቢያ በርካታ ግጭቶች ተከስተዋል። ለግጭቶቹ ግን ማንም ኃላፊነት አይሰማውም፣ በነርሱ ግጭት አለማገናዘብ ምክንያት ለጠፋው ሕይወትም ይሁን ንብረት መፀፀትም የተለመደ አይደለም።

ግጭት አገናዛቢነት የታመቁ ወይም ይፋዊ ግጭቶችን እንዲሁም ነውጥ አልባ ወይም ነውጥ አዘል ግጭቶችን መኖራቸውን፣ ንግግሮች ወይም ተግባራት እነዚህን ሊያባብሱ ወይም ሊያከስሙ እንደሚችሉ መረዳት እና በተቻለ መጠን ግጭቶቹን ሊያባብሱ የሚችሉ ነገሮችን በመቀነስ፣ ሊያከስሙ የሚችሉትን በመጨመር ላይ ማተኮር ነው።

“እኛ” ብቻ እንዳልሆንን ማገናዘብ

ማገናዘብ የሚገባን ይፋዊ ግጭቶችን ብቻ አይደለም። የታመቁ በርካታ ግጭቶች አሉ። የታመቀ ግጭት ብዙ ጊዜ ግጭት ውስጥ በሚገቡት ወይም ውጥረት ውስት ባሉ ቡድኖች መካከል ያለ፣ ያልተገለጠ አንዳንዴ ውጥረቱ በመሐከላቸው ባለው የተዛባ የኃይል ግንኙነት ምክንያት እንዳለ ባልተረዱ ወይም ባልተነጋገሩ አካላት መካከል የሚገኝ ያደፈጠ ግጭት ነው።

በኢትዮጵያ ነባራዊ ሁኔታ በተለያዩ ብሔሮች፣ በተለያዩ እምነት ተከታዮች፣ በተለያዩ የፖለቲካ ርዕዮተ ዓለም አራማጆች፣ በተለያየ የኢኮኖሚ መደብ አባላትና ፆታን መሠረት ያደረገ፣ ወዘተ ያደፈጠ፣ ያልተገለጠ፣ እምቅ ግጭት አለ። ለዚህ ነው ንግግሮቻችን እና ተግባራቶቻችን ሁሉ “እኛ” ብቻ ሳንሆን “ሌሎችም” እንዳሉ እንዲሁም እነርሱም ፍላጎቶች እና ስሜቶች እንዳሏቸው ማገናዘብ የሚኖርብን።

የፖለቲካ መዝገበ ቃላታችን ውስጥ የብሔር ልዩነቶችን ማገናዘብ፣ የእምነት ልዩነቶችን ማገናዘብ፣ የፖለቲካ ርዕዮተ ዓለም ልዩነቶችን ማገናዘብ፣ የኢኮኖሚ መደብ ልዩነቶችን ማገናዘብ፣ የፆታ ልዩነቶችን ማገናዘብ የሚል ነገር እምብዛም አይታይም። በነዚህ ሁሉ መሐል የኃይል ግንኙነት እርከኖች አሉ፣ የታሪክ እና የአረዳድ ትርክርት ልዩነቶች አሉ፣ የመደብ ልዩነቶች አሉ። ባላገናዘብን ቁጥር የምንጨፈልቃቸው ብዙዎች አሉ።

የትግራይ ጦርነት ጥቅምት 24 ሕወሓት የሰሜን ዕዙን ስታጠቃ ይጀመር እንጂ ብዙዎቻችን ከዛሬ ነገ ተጀመረ እያልን ስንፈራው የቆየነው ጉዳይ ነው። የሕወሓት ተቃዋሚዎችም፣ የሕወሓት ወዳጆችም የሌሎችን ጥቅምና ጉዳት፣ ስጋትና ተስፋ አገናዝበን አናውቅም። ጦርነቱ ከመቀስቀሱ በፊትም ይሁን በኋላ ለዚህ ወይም ለዚያ ቡድን የሚያስከትለው ድል ወይም ሽንፈት፣ አልያም የትርክትና መልካም ገጽታ መቆጣጠሩ እንጂ በዚህ የሥልጣን ሽኩቻ ሰለባ የሚሆነው ሕዝብ፣ በዚህ ሳቢያ በሕዝቦች መካከል የሚመባባሰው ዘላቂ የወዳጅነት መሻከር አላሳሰበንም። በዚህ አስተሳሰብ፣ አነጋገር፣ እና አተገባበር ሰላም ማግኘት በጣም አስቸጋሪ ነው የሚሆነው። የትግራይ ጦርነት የግጭት አላገናዛቢነታችን ዋና ማሳያ እንጂ ብቸኛው አይደለም።

በቤኒሻንጉል ጉሙዝ በተደጋጋሚ የሚፈነዳ እና የብዙዎችን እልቂት ያስከተለ ነውጥ አለ። ስለ ነውጡ ባለን ቁንፅል መረጃ ላይ ተመሥርተን ከመቋሰል በቀር ግጭት አገናዛቢ የሆነ እርምጃ ተራምደን አናውቅም። በአካባቢው ያለው ማኅበራዊ፣ ኢኮኖሚያዊ፣ ፖለቲካዊና አካባቢያዊ ሁኔታ ምን ይመስላል? በሕዝቦች መካከል ያለው ታሪካዊ ግንኙነት እንዴት ነበር? እነዚህን ያላገናዘቡ ድምዳሜዎች እና ብሶቶች የቁራ ጩኸቶች ከመሆን አያልፉም።

አገናዛቢነት “እኛ” ያለንበት ሁኔታ እና “እኛ” ነሮችን የምንመለከትበት አምባ ላይ ሁሉም ሰው አለመኖሩን ማገናዘብንም ይጨምራል። ይህ በተለይም ገደኝነቶችን (privileges) አምኖ ከመቀበል ጋር ይያያዛል። “እንዴት እነዚህ ሰዎች እንዲህ ማድረግ ተሳናቸው?” ብለን የምንላቸው ነገሮች “ከኛ ገደኝነት” (our privileges) የመነጨ መሆን አለመሆኑን ማገናዘብ ያስፈልጋል። “እነዚህ” ያልናቸው ሰዎች “እኛ” ያለን የመረጃ፣ የትምህርት፣ የቴክኖሎጂ፣ የኢኮኖሚ፣ የፖለቲካ ዕድሎች አላቸው ወይ የሚለውን ማገናዘብ ምናልባትም ወደ ችግሩ ምንጭ ሊመራ የሚችል አብርኆት ሊያመጣልን ስለሚችል ደጋግሞ መመርመር ያስፈልገናል።

አገናዛቢነት ከፖለቲካዊ ትክክለኝነት በምን ይለያል?

ፖለቲካዊ ትክክለኝነት (politically correctness) የሚባለው ንግግሮች ወይም ገለጻዎች የተገለሉ ወይም ተጋላጭ የማኅበረሰብ ክፍሎችን እንዳይዘነጋ ወይም እንዳያገልል የሚደረግ ጥንቃቄ ነው። መጥፎ ነገር ባይሆንም ጥንቃቄው ችግሩን በመቅረፍ ላይ የተመሠረተ ሳይሆን፣ ፖለቲካዊ ንግግሮች በተጋላጭ እና የተገለሉ የማኅበረሰብ ክፍሎች መካከል ተቀባይነት እንዳያጣ ወይም ለትችት እንዳይዳረግ ለመጠበቅ ያለመ ነው።

ግጭት አገናዛቢነትም ይሁን ሌሎች ነባራዊ ሁነታዎችን ማገናዘብ ግን ግጭቶች ወይም ሌሎች ማኅበረፖለቲካዊ፣ ወይም ማኅበረኢኮኖሚያዊ ልዩነቶች እና ልዩነቶቹ የማኅበረሰብ ክፍሎቹ ላይ የሚያሳርፏቸው አሉታዊ፣ ሥነ ልቦናዊም ይሁን አካላዊ ተፅዕኖዎች እንዳይባባሱ ሆነ ተብሎ የሚደረግ ለፍትሐዊነት የቀረበ የፖለቲካዊ ተዋስዖ እና ተሳትፎ ዘዴ ነው።

አገናዛቢነት ችግርን ከሁሉም አቅጣጫዎች ለማየትና ለመቅረፍ መሞከር ነው።

አገናዛቢነት እውነታውን መካድ ወይም መሸሸግ አይደለም፤ አወዛጋቢ ሊሆን ከሚችል ነገር መጠበቅም አይደለም። ይልቁንም ለእውነታው ለመቅረብ መሞከር ነው። በኢትዮጵያ እየተከሰቱ ያሉ ግጭቶችን ብንመለከት አንድ ወገን ብቻውን ተጠቂ፣ ሌላ ወገን ብቻውን አጥቂ የሆነባቸው አጋጣሚዎች በጣም ጥቂት ናቸው። ብዙዎቹ ድንገተኛ ክስተቶች ሳይሆነ ታሪካዊ ዳራ ያላቸው ናቸው። አንዳንዶቹ የብሔር ናቸው ስንል የሃይማኖት፤ የሃይማኖት ናቸው ስንል የኢኮኖሚ መደብ፤ የኢኮኖሚ ናቸው ስንል የአካባቢያ (geographic)፤ የአካባቢ ናቸው ስንል የባሕል፤ የባሕል ናቸው ስንል የፆታ ሁነው እናገኛቸዋለን። ይህ የሚያሳየው የኢትዮጵያውያን ችግር የአንድ ጉዳይ ወይም የአንድ ወገን አለመሆኑን ነው። ይህንን ውስብስብነት ለማገናዘብ በሞከርን ቁጥር ወደ ችግሮቹ እውነተኛ መንስኤ መጠጋት እንችላለን።

US and the Social Media, Lessons for Ethiopia

(Click here to read in Amharic.)

Freedom of expression is a non-negotiable matter for the Americans. It is something they needed to do “the first amendment” of their constitution for. The first amendment states that "Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…". On January 6, 2021, Facebook and Twitter had suspended President Trump’s profiles for a day after his supporters forcefully raided Capitol Hill while Congress is at a meeting. While Americans are shocked by the incident, the social media corporations have been the ones that have denied a platform for the president who was accused by many of passing inciting messages. 

The Americans have not seen such a scandal for more than two hundred years since 1814 when British troops attacked Capitol Hill. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the social media conspiracy theories and misinformation campaigns have resulted in this chaos. In this note, I will briefly explore the necessity of freedom of expression and the contradicting challenge posed by social media.

Why We Need the Freedom of Expression?

There are four main reasons why freedom of expression must be respected. (1) because it is a natural right – for personal fulfillment, (2) to discover the truth, (3) to increase the decision-making power of individuals, 4) to avoid the violent consequences of the repression of the freedom of expression, and additionally (5) because it is a necessary condition to also watch the respect other rights.

Inciting speech and misinformation contradict the reasons why freedom of expression must be respected. That is why international conventions seek to establish a cautious framework for restricting freedom of expression (incitement to war and hate, racism, etc.) as well as principles (legality, legitimacy, and necessity). However, while Europeans who had experienced genocide have taken serious legal actions, the Americans have always said that the solution is more freedom.

By the way, although the differences between Europe and the United States are broad in terms of the law, this does not mean Europeans (such as Germany) are jailers of journalists. Nor their citizens are afraid to speak out their critics to the government. Americans have also created a culture of countering irresponsible public speaking with an attempt to counter even many micro-aggressions through public scrutiny. It is in authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes that restrictions of freedom of expression target journalists, or speeches can be left unaccounted for (mostly, in cases where the speaker is power). Of course, the ethics and professionalism of journalists is also low in these semi-authoritarian regimes, again driven due to the behavior of the governments.

Conspiracy Theories

One of the pitfalls of social media is the promotion of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. Misinformation is not a new phenomenon; rather it is fundamentally old-aged. Benjamin Franklin is one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, who actually signed on the four most important documents of the Independence Declaration. Authors of “Like War”, a book that has analyzed the power of propaganda on social media, named Franklin as “the founding father of fake news in America”. Many states-persons have used misinformation as a tool to build a political and social system. Almost all political structures or social systems have been justified with propaganda backed by misinformation.

QAnon Conspiracy

Many supporters of Trump have been deceived by the QAnon conspiracy. It is “a wide-ranging, completely unfounded theory that says that President Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping pedophiles in government, business, and the media”. At the end of his reign, they believe that the president will win and Satan-worshipers and elites will end up jailed. Political arguments, ideology, and policy do not mean anything to the fast-growing believers of this conspiracy theory. Trump supporters come out to the streets wearing T-shirts or hats with the letter Q printed on them. Trump was asked to say that there was no such deep-state and that he was not at war with it, but he covered it up so as not to lose his supporters (saying that he doesn’t know about the movement but that he knows that ‘they like him’). In November 2020, one of the more than 70 candidates of the QAnon movement run for and one of them was elected to Congress. According to Pew Research, more than half of Americans have heard about the movement which started with unsubstantiated claims by an anonymous social media user about three years ago.

Beyond Conspiracy Theories…

Neither Trump's candidacy for the presidency in the US nor Britain's exit from the European Union would have been possible without social media. Despite the attempts of the fellow countries' citizens to convince us that it is Russia’s social media bots and propaganda machines that have created the dividing narratives on the social media, it is the citizens on the social media who have widened the preexisting divisions in their respective societies. Social media has empowered the extremists and gave them a platform to radicalize the less-informed members of each community.

Unlike before, activists of conspiracy write misinformation on social media and build up as many followers as they wish. It is usually the followers who are the real victims of misinformation and who pay the price for the interests of these conspiracy activists. "We are storming the Capitol; it is a revolution," said a woman who was asked by the media why she entered the building on January 6 as she got out crying. For those who are blinded by misinformation and propaganda, the election is not credible unless the result is what they want. Because the propaganda made them doubt everything that was coming from the other side.

Chinese Counterstrategy: Another Trouble

China has banned American social media from operating in its territory. In place of them, it has provided its own social media platforms that censors every political content not friendly to the government. The artificial intelligence behind the Chinese social media platforms doesn’t allow posting of contents that are not ‘allowed’ by the state; and, in cases, they are managed to be, they will soon be removed. This is something that many authoritarian regimes want to have. However, this is not the better alternative to the wild social media which radicalizes the youth and nurtures violent extremism. Rather, guided by the principles of restricting freedom of expression we have mentioned above (legality, legitimacy, and necessity), it is necessary to use artificial intelligence to filter out manipulative contents from the social media to make it a healthy platform as it needs to be (like countering computer viruses with antiviruses).

It is possible to build an ethical algorithm that filters out racist, hateful, organized disinformation, and inciting contests from the social media. Just as verified pages or profiles can be marked with a blue badge, it is also possible to reduce the impact of pages and profiles that repeatedly disseminate incitement, hateful content, false information, conspiracy theories, and the likes with yellow and/or red badges, periodically or permanently.

Social media is a unique and important platform for challenging authoritarian regimes. But, they have been a dangerous challenge for democratic institutions and for consolidating democracy in states that are trying to do transition to democracy.

The Test of Ethiopia

Ethiopians have used social media to force reform by the government. However, social media has been an instrument for fanning conflicts on the ground ending up reversing the progress of an optimist reform.

As a person who has been leading a monitoring team of social media activities in Ethiopia, I have observed that politicians and interest groups are manipulating the platform for undeserved political gains. In Ethiopia’s social media sphere, almost all political figures and groups have their own propaganda teams who often use misinformation and incitement as a strategy. These social media warriors, if not fabricate total lies, exaggerate information, and narratives that support their advantages while ignore or suppress those that disfavors them. This is the new normal to the so-called post-truth era, but not acceptable.

The impact of social media narratives will not be easy in the next election of Ethiopia that is scheduled for June 5, 2021. As far as current trends are concerned, in this general election, it is most probable that voters will cast their ballots ill-informed than well-informed. The social media’s influence in dictating this misinformation of voters is higher as the mainstream media is largely influenced by the social media in Ethiopia.

The misinformation trend can be halted in the joint efforts of many stakeholders’ activities. This includes transparency and accountability (upon failure) of the government entities, the fact-checking effort of the media and journalists, the media literacy activities of civil societies, and an increased and quick moderation effort of the social media platform. Otherwise, laws such as the recently adopted “anti-hate speech and suppression of dissemination of false information” will only end up being instruments of the ruling party in Ethiopia. Moreover, laws are not effective ways of prevention of disinformation everywhere in the world.