In the face of growing apathy toward social media, fueled in some cases by the government’s intolerance of free speech and the desire to control people’s posts, many governments are now seeking alternatives to the dominant American social media platforms.
Ethiopia has begun developing its own social media platform to rival Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, though it does not plan to block the global services, the state communications security agency said. Reuters has the report.
The east African country has been engulfed since last year in an armed conflict pitting the federal government against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the Tigray region in the country’s north.
*The views of the above article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Africa Speaks 4 Africa or its editorial team.