የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ለአንድ ወር በተመረጡ የማህበራዊ ትስስር መተግበሪያዎች ላይ የጣለውን እገዳ በማንሳት የዜጎችን መብት እንዲያከብር አምነስቲ ኢንተርናሽናል ጠየቀ። ዓለም አቀፍ የሰብዓዊ መብቶች ተሟጋች ድርጅቱ አምነስቲ ዛሬ ባወጣው መግለጫ፣ ለአንድ ወር ያህል በፌስቡክ፣ ቴሌግራም፣ ዩቲዩብ እና ቲክቶክን በመሳሰሉ የማህበራዊ ትስስር መተግበሪያዎች ላይ የጣለው እገዳ የዜጎችን መረጃ የማግኘት እና ሃሳብን በነፃነት የመግለፅ መብት የጣሰ ነው ብሏል። የኢትዮጵያ ሰብዓዊ መብቶች ጉባዔ (ኢሰመጉ)ም በዛሬ እለት ባወጣው መግለጫ የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ምክኛቱን ለህዝብ ሳያሳውቅ የኢንተርኔት አገልግሎትን ማቋረጡ ተገቢነት የሌለው ድርጊት ነው ሲል ተችቷል። ኢሰመጉ እንዳስታወቀው የሰዎችን መረጃ የማግኘት እና ሀሳብን በነፃነት የመግለፅ መብትን መንግስት ከመጋፋቱም ባለፈ “በሀገሪቱ ኢኮኖሚ ላይ ከፍተኛ ጉዳት እያደረሰ” ይገኛል ሲል አሳስቧል። ቶፕቴን ቪፒኤን የተባለ የእንግሊዝ ኩባንያ እንደ አውሮፓውያን አቆጣጠር ያለፈው 2022 ዓመት ሪፖርቱን ሲያወጣ ኢትዮጵያ በአንድ ዓመት ውስጥ ከ145 ሚልየን ዶላር በላይ ማጣቷን አስነብቦ ነበር። በሌላ በኩል በ2019 የአውሮፓዎች ዓመት ኔትብሎክስ በተባለ መንግስታዊ ያልሆነ ዓለም አቀፍ ድርጅት በወጣ መረጃ መሰረት ኢትዮጵያ ኢንተርኔት በተዘጋባቸው እያንዳንዱ እለት ቢያንስ 4.5 ሚልየን ዶላር እንደምታጣ ይገልፃል። “ይህ በተመረጡ የማህበራዊ ሚዲያ መድረኮች ላይ ያለው እገዳ የዜጎችን ሃሳብን በነፃነት የመግለፅ እና መረጃ የማግኘት መብቶችን በግልፅ ይጥሳል” ያለው አምነስቲ ኢንተርናሽናል፣ የኢትዮጵያን ሕገ መንግሥት እና ብሔራዊ ሕጎችን፣ እንዲሁም ኢትዮጵያ አባል የሆነችባቸውን አህጉራዊና ዓለም አቀፍ ስምምነቶችን የጣሰ መሆኑን ገልጿል። Ethiopia: One month on, authorities must immediately lift blockade on selected social media access in the country. As a blockade by the Ethiopian authorities on selected social media platforms enters its second month, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Flavia Mwangovya said: “Ethiopian authorities have, for a month now, blocked people in the country from accessing selected social media platforms such as Facebook, Telegram, Tik Tok and YouTube. The authorities thus continue to violate people’s right to freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to seek, receive and impart information. Authorities continue to violate people’s right to freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to seek, receive and impart information Flavia Mwangovya, Deputy Regional Director, East and Southern Africa “This blockade on selected social media platforms clearly violates citizens’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information. It also flies in the face of Ethiopia’s own constitution, and national laws, as well as regional and international treaties to which Ethiopia is a party to. The restriction further stains the country’s already dismal record on media freedom. “Amnesty International urges the Ethiopian authorities to lift this blockade without delay and to end this culture of interfering with people’s right to express themselves and to seek and receive information.” Ethiopia’s government must end this culture of interfering with people’s right to express themselves and to seek and receive information Flavia Mwangovya Background Following tensions caused by the disagreement in Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church, the government blocked social media platforms since 9 February 2023 as the Church leaders threatened to call for country wide rallies and counter rallies. According to media reports security forces killed people during a standoff with protesters in a Church in West Arsi zone, in Shashamane city in Oromia region. Since 2016 Amnesty International and other organizations have documented frequent internet shutdowns or restrictions during widespread protests and in conflict areas. The war-torn Tigray Region has been cut from any means of communication, including the internet, for almost two years. The connectivity partially resumed after the Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) agreement was signed by the warring parties in November 2022.