July 23: Internet fully restored
Full internet including data connection has been restored across Ethiopia today according to a number of journalists in the country.
The move comes a week after partial service was reported following a two-week total blackout. “At this hour: Full internet, including data has been restored in Ethiopia after three weeks of suspension,” journalist Samuel Getachew tweeted.
Others are reporting that the full restoration is in the capital Addis Ababa, which was one of the worst hit places in the violence that according to government precipitated the outage as a national security measure.
A top journalist commenting on the shutdown “posted tweets”: that read in part:https://twitter.com/befeqe/status/1286221998704787458 “First off, there is no legal ground for the government in Ethiopia to shut the internet. Threat to national security is usually the presumed excuse but in no way can the violence of this month be near to that level of a threat.
“The other presumption is that internet or social media creates or ignites violence. However, almost all the conflicts in Ethiopia start on ground. Yes, there are people who call for violence online, but so are people who preach peace, report violence, repression, etc.” Befeqadu Hailu averred.
Internet rights and tracking group, NetBlocks; which reportedly extensively on the outage has yet to confirm the cross board restoration of service.
Ethiopia appears to have restored mobile data service
Today, residents in d/t parts of Oromia, restive region recently hit by waves of violence, say they’re connected almost after 23 days.
Taken down ff #Hachalu’s killing, it was partially restored last wk in Addis. #Ethiopia— Ameyu Etana (@ameyuetana) July 23, 2020
July 15: Internet partially restored
Ethiopia restored internet partially across the country according to internet monitoring group, NetBlocks. As at July 14 – exactly two weeks since the outage – users on fixed lines / wi-fi lines were the first to have service.
“Real-time metrics show that the country remains largely offline as of Wednesday 15 July, with only a rise in fixed-line/wifi lines observed in recent days. Most users remain offline as cellular networks remain cut,” NetBlocks added.
A local journalist confirmed the restoring of service via a tweet on Tuesday: “It is important to note that after two weeks, internet has been partially restored in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
“Late last week, internet was only available at embassies and select offices, government buildings. However, areas outside Addis Ababa remain disconnected,” Zecharias Zelalem tweeted.
PM Abiy’s spokeswoman defended the outage last week in an interview with the BBC: “The respect of fundamental rights and dignity of citizens also primarily include the right to live free from harm and in dignity regardless of religion, ethnicity and other protected categories.
“And if the internet is being used by certain forces to spread hate speech and vitriol, that is perpetuating and initiating
