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YouTube launches crackdown on pro-Ethiopia accounts while ignoring terrorist propaganda


ADDIS ABABA, NOVEMBER 10, 2021 — YouTube has suspended the accounts of more than a dozen media outlets run by pro-Ethiopia activists just days after Senator Chris Coons introduced bipartisan legislation mandating sanctions against those "undermining peace efforts, profiting from, or otherwise fueling crisis in Ethiopia".
 
The crackdown lands on independent, non-governmental, pro-Ethiopia channels which were informing millions of Ethiopians around the world the events taking place in their homeland including the conflict in Amhara and Afar.
 
ZeHabesha, a US based, independent account and one of the longest serving channels providing Ethiopian news to the Ethiopian diaspora, was also suspended without notification on November 06, 2021.

The so called "Ethiopia Peace and Democracy Promotion Act of 2021" introduced by Senator Coons on November 04, 2021, could have triggered the social media crackdown on pro-Ethiopia accounts which were sources of information for many Ethiopians to counter disinformation.
 
YouTube, however, has not disclosed why it suspended these accounts while it ignored the accounts propagating terrorist propaganda more specifically for the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPFL) group, a group responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to findings obtained from a joint investigation carried out by the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) and Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Unlike YouTube, facebook lists one of Ethiopia's notorious group, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), designated terrorist by the Ethiopian parliament and TPLF's partner in crime, in the Dangerous Individuals and Organizations (DIO) list. However, on YouTube, the group flourishes through its Oromo Media Network (OMN) channel, a platform with almost half a million subscribers.
 
It is to be recalled that this wide spread crackdown on Ethiopian accounts also took place on Twitter. Twitter Inc, after shutting down numerous Ethiopian accounts, said on November 06 that it had indefinitely disabled its Trends section in Ethiopia over "threats of physical harm".
 
Twitter's action came immediately after Ethiopian's on the platform increased momentum with the #NoMore and #CNNFakeNews hashtags which were meant to denounce terrorism and disinformation campaigns waged against Ethiopia.
 
The social media crackdown on key pro Ethiopia activists and trusted Ethiopian media platforms comes amid coordinated disinformation campaigns waged against Ethiopia by the international media.

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