Monday, November 7, 2016

Protests in Ethiopia: The Diaspora and Social Media

Foreign Affairs published on 7 November 2016 an article titled "Is Twitter Hurting Ethiopia? Rumor and Unrest in a Fragile Federation" by James Jeffrey.

The author concludes that the Ethiopian diaspora in the United States current fixation is to influence protests on the ground, which many see as a pathway for bringing down the government. He adds that the militancy of some online activists is making it harder for legitimate grievances to be aired and gives the government an excuse to dismiss unrest as being driven by nefarious external forces.