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Independent AfricaEthiopia restricts social media as a church feud ramps up into violence

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Ethiopia restricts social media as a church feud ramps up into violence

Last month, three church leaders declared themselves archbishops, which resulted in at least 30 fatalities.

Following violent protests sparked by a split within the nation’s Orthodox Church, the Internet watchdog NetBlocks reported that access to social media platforms has been restricted in Ethiopia.

When three church officials last month professed themselves archbishops and established their own governing body, protests broke out in the Oromia region. While some protesters resisted it, others were in favour of it.

According to network data that NetBlocks had gathered, access to Facebook, Messenger, TikTok, and Telegram has been severely constrained.

The tweet came hours after the church said at least 30 people have been killed in the protests since February 4.

The church’s statement called for demonstrations on Sunday against the new governing body as it accused the Ethiopian government of “meddling” in the church’s internal affairs after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed asked his ministers to stay out of the dispute.

The Ethiopian state has traditionally maintained close ties to the Orthodox Church, to which more than 40 percent of the population belongs.

Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. The government said in a statement on Thursday that the upcoming protest was banned to prevent violence.

Ethiopian authorities have previously shut down or restricted access to the internet during periods of political unrest, including in response to protests in 2020 that followed the killing of a popular singer from Oromia.

Internet and phone communications were also shut down in the northern region of Tigray for most of a two-year war that ended in a ceasefire in November.

The Orthodox Church insisted Sunday’s protest would go ahead and said the government’s ban constituted “a declaration to destroy the church once and for all”.

Oromia, home to Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo, has experienced violent conflict for many years, part of wider unrest in Ethiopia, a multiethnic country where power has long been contested between federal and regional authorities.

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