The Facebook post, archived here, has been shared more than 50 times since it was published on January 25, 2022, on a page with more than 62,560 followers, which mostly features pro-Afar content. The post generated 1,200 reactions.
The picture attached in the post shows a bulk of ammunition. Written in Amharic, the caption reported that Afar troops seized firearms from Tigrayan forces in the recent front.
“The Afar are receiving the weapons the Junta is handing over,” reads part of the caption. Junta refers to the Tigrayan forces, while Afar is a neighboring region, which allies with the federal government against Tigrayan troops. However, even though the image shows ammunition, it is old and unrelated to the recent conflict in northern Ethiopia, and HaqCheck found it to be FALSE.
War in Ethiopia erupted in November 2020 when Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) rebels reportedly attacked a military command of Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. It has affected three countries (Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan) on different scales and has impacted three Regions of Ethiopia; Tigray, Amhara, and Afar.
In recent developments, the government announced its intention to start a new national dialogue to pave the way for national consensus and keep the integrity of the country. In a bid for national dialogue, Ethiopian authorities pardoned a number of high-profile political prisoners, including a prominent figure of TPLF. Recently, Afar regional state accused Tigrayan forces of continuing an intensified offensive in Afar.
HaqCheck inspected the images’ accuracy and Google reverse image search results show that the picture had been used in multiple online stories since 2014.
Reuters, on Jan 26, reported that Ethiopia’s cabinet approved the lifting of the ongoing state of emergency. The media outlet published a news article titled, “Ethiopia’s cabinet approves lifting of the state of emergency.” However, HaqCheck has examined the issue and rated the claim MISLEADING.
The war which erupted between Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) forces and the federal government in Nov 2020 is still protracted. The federal government withdrew from Mekelle in June 2020. Thereafter, TPLF forces advanced southward and expanded their control as far as Debre Sina town of the Amhara Regional State.
As the war intensified in the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions, the federal government declared a state of emergency instantly to be valid for a six months period throughout the country.
Then, the Ethiopian Government launched counter-offensives against TPLF forces and pushed them out of the Amhara and Afar regional states. At the end of its operation, the government announced that its forces would not advance further into Tigray. It stated that its forces would stay in areas the Tigray Regional State shares borders with Amhara and Afar regions.
Recently, the government freed prominent political figures including Jawar Mohammed and Sebhat Nega from prison. There have also been reports that the federal government and TPLF forces will negotiate on a cease-fire to end the armed conflict.
On Jan 26, Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers passed a proposal of ending the state of emergency declared in November last year to be submitted to the House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) for approval.
Following the statement, Reuters came out with a news article that Ethiopia’s cabinet of ministers lifted the state of emergency.
However, HaqCheck fact-checked the claim and found it MISLEADING.
It is true that the Council of Ministers approved a proposal to end the state of emergency. But the cabinet has no legal mandate to lift it by a decision without the approval of the HPR. Hence, the cabinet sends the proposal to the HPR for ratification.
The Ethiopian social media landscape was evolving faster than you can refresh your page in 2021. It was rife with controversies, disinformation, and organized social media campaigns, mostly due to major political events that took place within that time. The war that broke out at the end of 2020 between forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian federal government exacerbated propaganda campaigns targeting both locals and the international community.
Furthermore, cross-border conflicts, the 2021 sixth general election, and other issues aggravated the circulation of disinformation in 2021.
This report analyzes the causes and the major actors in the dissemination of dis/misinformation along with the platforms widely used by them. In addition to that, the tactics used by those perpetrators to deceive and manipulate their consumers are covered in-depth.
The report also covers the evolving trend of disinformation throughout the year.
Orthodox Epiphany not celebrated in Tigray amid fears of aerial attacks
Claims that the annual Orthodox Epiphany celebration was not held in Tigray due to fears of aerial attacks appeared on social media. Images were shared inciting controversies regarding the matter.
On Jan 19, 2022, a Facebook post appeared claiming that the Orthodox Epiphany was not celebrated by the believers in Tigray amid fears of drone attacks. The post received over a thousand reactions and was shared close to a hundred times.
Counterclaims also emerged claiming the image was old and doesn’t prove that people in Tigray abstained from attending Epiphany celebrations because of the aerial attacks.
On Jan 19, 2022, another Facebook post was published with the same image above. The post asserted that the image was five years old.
Images of maps showing Eritrea and Ethiopia merged
There were claims that an image of a map merging Ethiopia and Eritrea as one country appeared during Epiphany celebrations in Addis Ababa and other areas.
A viral tweet was made with the claim that the map in the image appeared during the Epiphany celebration in Ethiopia and Cautioned people to stop such acts since it undermines the sovereignty of Eritrea.
The tweet was retweeted over four hundred times and was seen by many users on the platform.
The tweet shared three images to prove the claim. However, one of the three images was false and taken from publications years ago. The third image was taken from an article published by The National News, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based news outlet. The original image was published in January 2019 along a story entitled, “Ethiopia apologizes after Dubai marathon fans ‘erase Eritrea’ from map”.
Demolished compound of the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council in Bahir Dar
Controversial images and claims had also emerged last week following the information that the premises of the Bahir Dar office of the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council was smashed on the eve of the Epiphany holiday. A Facebook page with the name of Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council shared three images along with the claim that the compound was destroyed by the mobs who were celebrating the holiday.
However, many posts appeared counterclaiming that the images shared don’t prove the alleged claim that the premises sustained damages by attendees of the Epiphany celebration
On Jan 19, 2022, a Facebook post emerged with a refutation that the images show when the compound was demolished for reconstruction purposes previously. There also emerged a similar counterclaim alleging the images were old and show the premises during reconstruction.
Amhara militia & Fano checking the movement of departing Ethiopian army
A Facebook post was published with three pictures to prove the claim on Jan 17, 2022. claimed that Fano and local militia checked the movements of the departing federal government army in Kobo, Amhara Regional State. According to the post, the federal army was leaving the area with the command of the Ethiopian army Chief-of-Staff following the approach of TPLF forces which supposedly intended to re-control the town.
However, two of the three images were learned to be falsely taken from sources dated 4-8 years ago.
The first image was first posted on 16 Dec 2015 in an article about the then youth protests against the rule of the EPRDF regime. The link to the first image can be found here.
The third image out of the three images was taken from a Facebook post in Mar 2019. The post shared the image with a claim to show people blocking the road that connects Bahir Dar and Hamusit. Here is a link to the original image.
However, we could not find the second image that is shared to support the post’s claim.
We recommend social media influencers and content creators be responsible and abstain from sharing false and unauthenticated images and information. They should not misinform their followers and the social media populace in general.
HaqCheck recommends social media users be conscious of the origin and intention of the unverified information posted on social media platforms. They should question the authenticity of the information before they read and share it with others. They should identify trustable pages and sources to grasp the crux of the issue.
The government should avail sufficient and up-to-date information to the public and to the media. Disinformation and information disorder intensifies during times of shortage of information.
A Facebook post, published with three pictures, on Jan 17, claimed that Fano (volunteer youth patriots) and local militia checked the movements of the departing federal government army. According to the post, the federal army was leaving the area with the command of the army Chief-of-Staff following the approach of TPLF forces which supposedly intended to re-control the town.
The post was shared by close to three hundred users at the time this article was published.
However, HaqCheck fact-checked the three images used to support the claim and found out that from the set of images including three pictures, the two were taken from sources dated 4-8 years ago and don’t prove the claim, while the third image can not be found. Therefore, the post is rendered PARTLY FALSE.
The war which erupted between Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) forces and the federal government in Nov 2020 is still protracted. The federal government withdrew from Mekelle in June 2020. Thereafter, TPLF forces advanced southward and expanded their control as far as Debre Sina town of the Amhara Regional State.
In Nov 2021, the Ethiopian Government launched counter-offensives against TPLF forces and pushed them out of the Amhara and Afar regional states.
At the end of its operation, the government announced that its forces would not advance further into Tigray. It stated its forces would stay in areas the Tigray Regional State shares borders with Amhara and Afar regions.
A regional state media affiliated with the TPLF claimed that Amhara and Afar regional armed forces and Eritrean armed units were trying to penetrate and enter into Tigray.
It was in this context the post was published with the images.
According to HaqCheck’s inspection, the first image was first posted on 16 Dec 2015 in an article about the then youth protests against the rule of the EPRDF regime. The link to the first image can be found here.
The third image out of the three images was taken from a Facebook post in Mar 2019. The post shared the image with a claim to show people blocking the road that connects Bahir Dar and Hamusit. Here is a link to the original image.
However, we could not find the second image that is shared to support the post’s claim.
Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post PARTLY FALSE due to the usage of inaccurate images to prove the claim.
A Facebook page with more than 52 thousand followers posted a video on Jan 10. Its caption reads, “The celebration of the release of Sebahat Nega and Abay Woldu in Addis Ababa.” By the time this article was published, the video had more than 1000 reactions and more than 200 shares. It was viewed by over 81 thousand users.
However, HaqCheck looked into the video and rendered it False.
Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) officials, who were arrested after the federal government-controlled Mekelle in Dec 2020, were in jail for almost a year.
Charges of overthrowing a constitutionally established regional government, launching attacks against the National army, and engaging in an armed struggle were filed against them in July 2021 by the Federal Attorney General.
The Ministry of Justice, on Jan 07, dropped charges of six individuals, including Sibhat Nega and Abay Weldu, among the charges in the case of Debretsion Gebremichael, TPLF chairman. Their release incited a wide public controversy and debate. They were released from prison on that day.
In the context of their controversial release, the post appeared on Facebook claiming to show a celebration that took place in Addis Ababa marking the celebration of the release of Sebhat Nega, TPLF founding member, and Abay Weldu, a higher official of the party.
HaqCheck looked into the video and found out that it was published four years ago on YouTube claiming to show Sebhat Nega in a birthday party with his family.
The trend of disinformation and information disorder in the Ethiopian media landscape often varies with the course of the armed conflict in the northern part of the country. Moreover, the disinformation happened to be overhyped recurrently during times of inter-ethnic conflict and violence.
Nevertheless, the disinformation trend during the second week of the first month of this new year was comparatively limited. There were controversies, but most of them were mere opinions and are not worthwhile to be included in this summary.
We also observed fewer false claims emerged mainly on Facebook. Here are the notable controversies that were observed on social media and false claims fact-checked by HaqCheck.
Celebration marking the release of TPLF officials
A viral video was posted by a Facebook page that has more than 52 thousand followers on Jan 10, claiming that the video shows a celebration marking the release of Sebhat Nega, a co-founder and former chairman of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
The caption of the video post reads “The celebration of the release of Sebehat Nega and Abay Woldu in Addis Ababa.” At the time, the video had more than one thousand reactions and two hundred shares and was viewed by over 81 thousand users.
However, the video is proved to be old, taken from previous publications. HaqCheck interrogated the video clip and found out that it was posted four years ago on YouTube. The description of the original video clip on YouTube claims that Sebhat Nega was celebrating a birthday party with his family in Addis Ababa.
TPLF military truck destroyed by a drone attack
Another disinformation piece that was rendered FALSE by HaqCheck last week was a Facebook post that claimed to show a truck belonging to the TPLF destroyed by a drone attack. The post stated that TPLF launched an attack on the Humera front during the Orthodox Christmas and action was taken in response by the government. Other Facebook pages also posted the image with the same claim.
However, the image is Checked out to be false and does not prove the claim. HaqCheck found out that the image was posted on Dec 26, 2021, on a website with a claim that the truck was destroyed by TPLF forces in Kombolcha town, Amhara Regional State.
Government to disarm Amhara militia
Last week there was a controversy regarding an alleged document drafted by the Ethiopian government. Based on the alleged document, many claims appeared that the government is preparing to disarm Amhara militia (a.k.a Fano) in the Amhara Regional State.
The Amhara Prosperity Party issued a defensive statement that the document circulating on social media was somewhat altered. It explained that part of the document that elaborates the contribution of the Amhara people during the war with the TPLF was intentionally cut out of the document.
Besides, the Amhara regional government said that the claim that the government will disarm Fano (armed militia) is false.
However, the controversy continued. Social media posts appeared claiming the Amhara regional government had been calling armed militia (Fanos) to emergency meetings at localities.
Recommendations
HaqCheck recommends social media users be conscious of the origin and intention of the unverified information posted on social media platforms. They should question the authenticity of the information before they read and share it with others. They should identify trustable pages and sources to grasp the crux of the issue.
The public should be provided with up-to-date information by the government and relevant media outlets. Information discrepancy always prompts controversies and disinformation. Offering sufficient information is the best and most efficient way to prevent disinformation.
Social media influencers and content creators should also be responsible for their activities on the platforms. They should avoid feeding false and damaging information that can misinform people and may trigger offenses.
A Facebook page with more than 45,000 followers posted an image on Jan 07, 2022, claiming that an action was taken in response to an attack by the Tigray people liberation front (TPLF) at the Humera front during which its army was destroyed by a drone attack. Other Facebook pages also posted the image with the same claim.
However, the image doesn’t show a truck destroyed by a drone attack and HaqCheck rendered it as false.
It had been over a year since the war between the Tigray people liberation front (TPLF) and The Federal Government of Ethiopia began. After staying in control of Mekelle for seven months, The federal government declared a unilateral ceasefire and pulled out its troops from most parts of Tigray at the end of June 2021.
The declaration of ceasefire was not accepted by TPLF; rather the rebel group started advancing to Afar and Amhara regional states. TPLF stayed in control of several cities until the military offensives and counter-offensives led by prime minister Abiy Ahmed(Ph.d.) from the frontlines, which started on Nov 22, 2021. Most parts of both regions were liberated in a short period of time.
Even though TPLF Officials stated that they were not defeated, but retreated from the neighboring regions in order to give a chance for peace. The federal government stated that TPLF didn’t retreat but was completely defeated. Marking the end of the operation led by the Prime Minister, the federal government announced that the defense forces won’t advance further to Tigray and will be positioned at the borders.
There had been accusations on the federal government and its allies that they had been in engagements on different fronts trying to advance into Tigray and TPLF troops were conducting counter-offensive on the federal government forces.
A claim appeared on Facebook in the framework of this situation.
In addition to the clear visual differences between the trucks that can be detected by a naked eye, HaqCheck used Reverse image search to interrogate the image used in the post to show the destroyed truck.
However, HaqCheck found out that it was posted on Dec 26, 2021, by the #nomore-Ethiopia website as one of the properties destroyed by TPLF during its control of Kombolcha town.
Hence, due to the inaccuracy of the image used to support the claim, HaqCheck rated it as false.
A Facebook account with 262,812 followers posted a photo on Dec 31, 2021, claiming that Sudanese demonstrators who protested against the government marching to the palace were holding the Ethiopian federal flag to show their support to Ethiopia and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) on Dec 30. By the time this article was published, the post had 13,000 reactions and was shared two thousand times.
However, Haqcheck looked into the image used to support the claim and rendered it FALSE due to its inaccuracy.
Sudan’s crisis started as an Economic problem, due to the rise in the cost of bread and fuel in Dec 2018, which later grew to be a political problem and led to the overthrow of the government of President Omar Al-Bashir who ruled Sudan for 30 years. After the formation of a transitional government called the ‘Sovereignty Council of Sudan’ to be led by Abdalla Hamdok as Prime Minister, protests have been held asking higher officials of the former government to be arrested and face accountability for their actions.
The military, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, took control of power in a military coup On Oct 25 2021, and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was arrested with the majority of his cabinet. The coup was followed by pro-civilian government protests that started On Oct 26. Later General Abdul Fattah Al-Burhan announced that he was willing to share power and restore the Sovereignty Council of Sudan and signed a deal. But civilian groups rejected the deal, refusing the power-sharing deal with the military, and had been holding a series of protests with an ever-increasing number of participants.
It is reported that many Ethiopians living in Sudan participated in the rallies. Sudan and Ethiopia have been in a state of disagreement particularly since last year due to a border dispute.
In this context, the claim appeared on Facebook stating that during the protest held on Dec 30, 2021 millions of Sudanese were holding the Ethiopian flag singing, “Ethiopia is our second country, peace to Ethiopia, victory to the Ethiopian National Defense of Force[s].”
HaqCheck looked into the image and confirmed that the image does not support the claim that millions of Sudanese held the Ethiopian flag during a recent protest. The image was taken from another previous publication by CBS 42 news in Aug 2019 entitled, “Sudanese pro-democracy supporters celebrate a final power-sharing agreement with the ruling military council…”. The report used the picture with the supposition of showing the Sudanese holding the Ethiopian flag since the Ethiopian Government played an important role in the peace process.
Therefore, Haqcheck rated the image used to support the claim as FALSE.
A Facebook page with more than 150,000 followers posted a picture on Dec 27, 2021, claiming that there was fighting recently in the Metekel Zone of Benishangul Gumuz Regional State. By the time this article was published, the post had received more than five hundred reactions and was shared nearly a hundred times.
However, Haqcheck has inspected the claim and found it to be FALSE.
The armed conflict between the Benishangul People’s Liberation Movement (BPLM) and the central government of Ethiopia is traced back to the Derg regime in 1976. The rebel group was formed two years after the downfall of the imperial regime. In 1996, one wing of BPLM merged with other parties from the Benishangul-Gumuz region to form Benishangul-Gumuz People’s Democratic Unit Front (BGPDUF) and continued until 2019. It dissolved later to form the Prosperity Party together with other national parties.
BPLM signed a peace deal with the Ethiopian federal government in 2005. Nevertheless, fighting resumed in 2006. In June 2013, BPLM and the federal government agreed to a peace deal. BPLM members were promised an amnesty from prosecution and governmental support under the deal. BPLM detainees were released. After the war between the federal government and Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) broke out, BPLM announced that it would work in alliance with TPLF and Oromo Liberation Army(OLA), which are designated as ‘terrorist organizations’ by the Ethiopian parliament.
The Metekel conflict is believed to have started on April 25, 2019, between car drivers and passengers. It is said that more than 30 people have died due to the conflict at different time intervals. 37 people were killed and 18 wounded in an attack by armed men from the Amhara region following the Amhara Region coup d’état attempt, as Ashadli Hassen, governor of Benishangul-Gumuz, told The Associated Press. On September 16 the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) western command released a statement reporting attacks on civilians on Sep 04 and 05 in Bulen Woreda, Metekel Zone. In an effort to counter such offensives, Benishangul Gumuz regional forces have been fighting with the rebel armed group alongside the ENDF.
According to the then administrator of the Metekel zone, Atinkut Shitu, The attackers could be ‘an organized group of members of opposition parties and discharged military officers’. Government affiliated media blamed TPLF for the conflicts happening. In Dec 2020 seven government officials of the Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, including Banding Mara, head of Metekel Zone Prosperity Party Office were arrested for alleged connection with the death of civilians in the Metekel zone
A lot of civilians were killed and displaced in fear of death because of this conflict. This includes both native indigenous ethnic groups Gumuz and Shinasha and other Amhara, Oromo, and Awi residents.
The claim on Facebook reported that there had been ongoing fighting between BPLM and government forces since Dec 26, 2021. Haqcheck cross-checked the image used in the post to support the statement and found out that it was previously used by the Associated Press on Aug 11, 2021, with a photo caption “…May 8, 2021, Ethiopian government soldiers ride in the back of a truck …”
Therefore, HaqCheck interrogated the picture used to justify the claim and rated it FALSE.
