Revisiting The Cost Of Internet Blackout As Ethiopia Lift 5 Months Social Media Ban
The Ethiopian government finally bows to pressure and lifts its five-month social media ban, said to have cost the country over $140 million.
In the vast and diverse continent of Africa, where tradition and modernity dance hand in glove, a battle rages for a most precious commodity: the internet. For years, African nations have been grappling with the delicate balance between freedom of expression and maintaining order. A recent incident in Ethiopia exemplifies the struggle, as the nation lifted its five-month social media ban. However, the price of this repeated digital oppression by the respective African states is staggering, not just for the people's rights but for the economy too.
Picture this: a bustling city like Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's vibrant capital plunged into darkness. Not from power outages, but from the darkness that looms when access to social media platforms is severed. For five long months, citizens were left in the digital wilderness, cut off from the virtual world they once knew. But on a fateful Wednesday, 19th July, 2023 the internet advocacy organization OONI sounded the trumpets of liberation as they reported that access to social networks was free once again.