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Ethiopia to develop social media platform to rival Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp

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Ethiopia has started the development of its own social media platform to take on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter after complaints of posts deletions that it says were reflecting the true picture of what is transpiring in the country.

This was confirmed by the state communications security agency, which also stated that the country does not plan to block the global services, according to a Reuters report.

Ethiopia has been engulfed in turmoil since 2020 in a conflict between the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the Tigray region in the country’s north. Both sides have been waging a parallel war of words on social media.

Shumete Gizaw, Director General of the Information Network Security Agency (INSA) said, the government wants its local platform to “replace” Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Zoom.

Shumete accused Facebook of deleting posts and user accounts which he said were “disseminating the true reality about Ethiopia” and blocking users who were “preaching national unity and peace”.

International human rights groups have criticised the Ethiopian government for unexplained shutdowns to social media services including Facebook and WhatsApp in the past year. The government has not commented on those shutdowns.

Facebook’s Africa spokesperson, Kezia Anim-Addo, declined to comment on Ethiopia’s plans and did not respond immediately to a query about Shumete’s accusations.

But in June, days before national elections, Facebook said it had removed a network of fake accounts in Ethiopia targeting domestic users which it linked to individuals associated with INSA, which is responsible for monitoring telecommunications and the internet.

Shumete declined to specify a timeline, budget and other details, but told reporters: “The rationale behind developing technology with local capacity is clear … Why do you think China is using WeChat?”

He said Ethiopia had the local expertise to develop the platforms and would not hire outsiders to help.

Social messaging app WeChat, owned by China-based Tencent Holdings, is widely used in the country and is considered to be a strong tool by Chinese authorities for monitoring its population.

Shumete also stated that currently authorities in Ethiopia were working on the social media platform to replace Facebook and Twitter, while a trial has already been completed of a platform to replace WhatsApp and Zoom and that platform will soon be operational.

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