Ethiopia is Building Local Social Media to Rival Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp

Ethiopia has begun development on its own social media platforms to rival US-based social networks like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. The state communications security agency said on Monday that the country does not have any plans to block the global services, as per Reuters.

Instead, according to the director general of Ethiopia’s Information Network Security Agency (INSA), Shumete Gizaw, the government wants its public platforms to “replace” Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Zoom.

Shumete also accused Facebook of deleting posts and user accounts that he said were “disseminating the true reality about Ethiopia.” The country has been embroiled in a major armed conflict since last year, which pits the Federal Government against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), an armed group that controls the Tigray region in the north of the country. Continue reading