Whether you believe it or not, the official reason for internet shutdown in Ethiopia is to prevent cheating in the country’s national examinations.
Access to the web was “totally cut off” on Tuesday morning, June 11, and there’s been only an intermittent restoration of services since then, according to NetBlocks, an advocacy group that monitors cybersecurity. “It is believed to be a measure to counter cheating,” it said.
Ethiopia’s internet was totally cut off as of 7:30 a.m. UTC (8.30 a.m. WAT) on 11 June 2019.
Confirmed: Internet has been totally cut across #Ethiopia as an apparent measure intended to prevent cheating during national exams; incident ongoing #KeepItOn 📉https://t.co/AZASjIdHLe pic.twitter.com/OT74L63I4J
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) June 11, 2019
Well as at Friday, June 14, it was reported that the internet has partially returned to the country after four days of outage. However, messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram remain restricted.
Update: Internet has partially returned to #Ethiopia following four days of outages, however national connectivity remains unstable at 67%; messaging apps currently restricted (1/2)https://t.co/AZASjIdHLe pic.twitter.com/Z3AXGtZOC6
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) June 14, 2019
Pro democracy activist, Atnaf Brhane reports that this is the fourth major official internet shutdown in one year.
- In Sep 17-19, 2018, in Addis Ababa when violence happened in the capital.
- In August 7 – 11, 2018 in Harar, DireDawa & Somali region, while
- In October 11, 2018 in Addis A when soldiers marched to the palace.
- In June 11, 2019 – up to now: many believe it is to prevent student from cheating.
The said exam started this week and is expected to end next week Tuesday, a journalist in Addis Ababa confirmed to Africanews.
The state monopoly Ethiopia Telecom Corp. has not verified these claims.
