A service run by OONI, an association that tracks online censorship, showed that access to social networks in Africa's second-most populous country was freely available after being shut down in early February. ADDIS ABABA - Social media networks like Facebook and Instagram were back online in Ethiopia on Wednesday after being blocked for five months, according to an internet advocacy organisation and an AFP journalist. OONI and other internet censorship watchdogs reported a social media blackout in Ethiopia since 9 February. Planned demonstrations over the move were eventually cancelled after a meeting of church leaders brokered by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in mid-February, but social media sites remained offline. Ethiopian authorities have cut or throttled access to the internet and social media platforms many times in recent years.

Source: Ethiopian News July 19, 2023 22:58 UTC