A viral tweet appeared on May 25, 2022, claiming that Eritrean security officials recently exposed that Ethio 360 and Ethio Forum discussed online with senior TPLF leaders and agreed to work together. The tweet implicitly accused the media outlets of echoing ‘TPLF’s agenda’.
It presented a screenshot of a text written in Tigrinya in a bid to support the claim.
However, HaqCheck looked into the case and confirmed the screenshot doesn’t show that Eritrean security officials claimed to reveal the three mentioned entities recently discussed and agreed to work together.
There has been an armed conflict between the federal government along with Ethiopian allied forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front/TPLF since November 2020. A few months ago, a humanitarian truce was declared by the Ethiopian government and instantly adopted by the TPLF.
The federal government and the Amhara regional administration recently started a military campaign named ‘law enforcement operation’ to disarm armed groups and criminal gangs.
Meanwhile, the Ethio 360 and Ethio Forum online media remained critical of the Ethiopian government and the ruling Prosperity Party, especially following the war in Tigray.
The National Movement of Amhara in its recent statement issued on May 24, 2022, criticized the Ethio 360 media for working with TPLF to destabilize the Amhara Regional State.
There has also been a claim and accusation that Ethio Forum is affiliated with TPLF. There was recently an allegation that Ethio Forum received 1.8 million Birr in funds from TPLF.
The tweet emerged in this background claiming that Eritrean security officials exposed there was a recent online discussion organized by the TPLF in which the Ethio 360, Ethio Forum, and members of the ‘Digital Weyane’ took part. The claim stated that the Ethio Forum and Ethio 360 received a new agenda from the TPLF with a mission of fuelling conflict and instability in the country.
HaqCheck checked the screenshot to examine whether it proves the claim. The screenshot was taken from a Facebook post made on May 23, 2022. The Facebook post was made by a page named ‘Center for Research and Documentation’, a social media portal for a news and media website. The page claimed that it got the information from its exclusive sources that there was an online discussion in which TPLF senior leaders, Ethio Forum, Ethio 360, and members of digital Weyane participated.
The page wrote that it obtained the information from its exclusive sources, not that from Eritrean security officials as claimed by the tweet post under discussion. Hence the screenshot documentation presented by the post as evidence happens to be different from what it reported.
Thus, HaqCheck rated the tweet FALSE
