Ethiopia, the Tensai-Ethiopia radio site, EthioMedia, EthioX, and EthioIndex. But some media
sites carrying news and editorials that are unfavorable to the Ethiopian government remained
available, including Addis Voice and Ethiopian
Review, which had been blocked as part of the
ETC’s initial filtering of blogs and media sites in
2006. 24 International news sites such as CNN
and Voice of America radio were not blocked.
Some human rights sites focusing specifically on Ethiopia were filtered. The Ethiopian
Democratic Action League, which advocates for
political prisoners, was blocked, as was a page
calling for the freedom of jailed opposition leader
Yacob Haile-Mariam (www.freeyacob.com) and a
site about the imprisonment of human rights
activist Mesfin Woldemariam (www.mesfinwolde
mariam.org). However, information about these
and other imprisoned dissidents is available via a
number of human rights pages that are not
blocked, including Human Rights Watch,
Amnesty International, and various Ethiopianfocused rights groups. Reporters Without
Borders, which has chronicled Ethiopian Internet
filtering on its Web site (www.rsf.org), is not
banned.
ONI testing found that search engines,
including Google, Yahoo, MSN, and others, were
available in Ethiopia, and no e-mail sites have
been blocked. Though VoIP has been banned
within the country, sites offering that service, such
as Skype, were not filtered. The ETC did not
block censorship circumvention tools such as
www.anonymizer.com, and Internet users within
Ethiopia appear to have found alternative means
of accessing banned sites. 25
Conclusion
Ethiopia’s current approach to filtering can be
somewhat spotty, with the exception of the blanket block on two major blog hosts. Much of the
banned political and human rights–related content is available at sites that are not blocked. The
authors of the blocked blogs have in many cases
continued to write to an international audience,
apparently without sanction. But Ethiopia is
increasingly jailing journalists and the government has shown an increasing propensity toward
repressive behavior online; it seems likely that the
trend will be more extensive censorship as
Internet access expands across the country.
When the ETC becomes more sophisticated as
an ISP, its filtering regime may become broader
and more comprehensive, particularly if the
Ethiopian political situation remains unstable.
NOTES
1. Sean McCormack, “Ethiopian Elections,” U.S. State
Department, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/
ps/2005/53355.htm.
2. ABC News, “One student killed in Ethiopian election
protest,” June 2005, http://www.abc.net.au/news/
newsitems/200506/s1385945.htm.
3. Human Rights Watch, World Report 2007: Ethiopia,
2007, http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/
2007/01/11/ethiop14704.htm.
4. Ibid.
5. Reporters Without Borders, Ethiopia: Annual Report
2007, 2007, http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_
article=20755&Valider=OK.
6. BBC News, “Country Profile: Eritrea,” December
2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_
profiles/1070813.stm.
7. BBC News, “Ethiopian army faces Somali test,”
December 2006,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6208759.stm.
8. Human Rights Watch, World Report 2007: Ethiopia,
2007, http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/
01/11/ethiop14704.htm.
9. Reporters Without Borders, Ethiopia: Annual Report
2007, 2007, http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_
article=20755&Valider=OK.
10. Ibid.
11. Internet World Stats Africa, Internet Usage Statistics,
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm.
12. Lynn Hartley and Michael Murphree, “Influences on
the partial liberalization of Internet service provision
in Ethiopia,” Critique, Fall 2006, http://lilt.ilstu.edu/
critique/fall2006docs/Influences on the Partial
Liberalization of Internet Service.pdf.
284
Country Summaries
sites carrying news and editorials that are unfavorable to the Ethiopian government remained
available, including Addis Voice and Ethiopian
Review, which had been blocked as part of the
ETC’s initial filtering of blogs and media sites in
2006. 24 International news sites such as CNN
and Voice of America radio were not blocked.
Some human rights sites focusing specifically on Ethiopia were filtered. The Ethiopian
Democratic Action League, which advocates for
political prisoners, was blocked, as was a page
calling for the freedom of jailed opposition leader
Yacob Haile-Mariam (www.freeyacob.com) and a
site about the imprisonment of human rights
activist Mesfin Woldemariam (www.mesfinwolde
mariam.org). However, information about these
and other imprisoned dissidents is available via a
number of human rights pages that are not
blocked, including Human Rights Watch,
Amnesty International, and various Ethiopianfocused rights groups. Reporters Without
Borders, which has chronicled Ethiopian Internet
filtering on its Web site (www.rsf.org), is not
banned.
ONI testing found that search engines,
including Google, Yahoo, MSN, and others, were
available in Ethiopia, and no e-mail sites have
been blocked. Though VoIP has been banned
within the country, sites offering that service, such
as Skype, were not filtered. The ETC did not
block censorship circumvention tools such as
www.anonymizer.com, and Internet users within
Ethiopia appear to have found alternative means
of accessing banned sites. 25
Conclusion
Ethiopia’s current approach to filtering can be
somewhat spotty, with the exception of the blanket block on two major blog hosts. Much of the
banned political and human rights–related content is available at sites that are not blocked. The
authors of the blocked blogs have in many cases
continued to write to an international audience,
apparently without sanction. But Ethiopia is
increasingly jailing journalists and the government has shown an increasing propensity toward
repressive behavior online; it seems likely that the
trend will be more extensive censorship as
Internet access expands across the country.
When the ETC becomes more sophisticated as
an ISP, its filtering regime may become broader
and more comprehensive, particularly if the
Ethiopian political situation remains unstable.
NOTES
1. Sean McCormack, “Ethiopian Elections,” U.S. State
Department, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/
ps/2005/53355.htm.
2. ABC News, “One student killed in Ethiopian election
protest,” June 2005, http://www.abc.net.au/news/
newsitems/200506/s1385945.htm.
3. Human Rights Watch, World Report 2007: Ethiopia,
2007, http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/
2007/01/11/ethiop14704.htm.
4. Ibid.
5. Reporters Without Borders, Ethiopia: Annual Report
2007, 2007, http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_
article=20755&Valider=OK.
6. BBC News, “Country Profile: Eritrea,” December
2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_
profiles/1070813.stm.
7. BBC News, “Ethiopian army faces Somali test,”
December 2006,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6208759.stm.
8. Human Rights Watch, World Report 2007: Ethiopia,
2007, http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/
01/11/ethiop14704.htm.
9. Reporters Without Borders, Ethiopia: Annual Report
2007, 2007, http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_
article=20755&Valider=OK.
10. Ibid.
11. Internet World Stats Africa, Internet Usage Statistics,
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm.
12. Lynn Hartley and Michael Murphree, “Influences on
the partial liberalization of Internet service provision
in Ethiopia,” Critique, Fall 2006, http://lilt.ilstu.edu/
critique/fall2006docs/Influences on the Partial
Liberalization of Internet Service.pdf.
284
Country Summaries