Disinformation in Ethiopia in October 2023 was driven by the conflict between Fano militias and Ethiopian government forces. Disinformation was spread through a variety of tactics, including altered and old videos, recycled claims, and false images.
The armed conflict involving Fano militias and Ethiopian government forces significantly contributed to the dissemination of disinformation last month.
Below are some of the disinformation themes tracked across the Ethiopian social media landscape during October.
Violence against civilians by ENDF soldiers
Social media in Ethiopia has been circulating false claims about violence by the Ethiopian government against civilians in the Amhara region.
A user on An X (formerly known as Twitter) shared a video claiming that it showed Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) soldiers recently beating up civilians in the Amhara region.
HaqCheck investigated the claim and found that the video was old and had been posted on Twitter on May 13, 2021, with a description that it showed Ethiopian army soldiers beating up and terrorizing Tigrayan civilians during the armed conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Afar militants joined Fano in opposition to the Ethiopian government
False information was being circulated on the Ethiopian social media landscape claiming that Afar ethnic militants were teaming up with Fano militants in opposition to the Ethiopian government.
One example of this disinformation campaign was a Facebook post that shared an image claiming that Afar militants were fighting the Ethiopian military supporting Fano militants.
However, the post used an old image from May 2021 to support their claim that the Afar and Fano militias were fighting together. The original description of the image said that it showed armed conflict between Afar and Somali militants.
Government looted and smuggled artifacts
Another theme of disinformation in October revolved around a claim that the Ethiopian government looted and smuggled precious artifacts.
A Telegram channel with over 334,000 members shared two images on October 4, 2023, claiming that the Ethiopian government had stolen artifacts, replicas of the Tablets of Stone, ancient gold coins, and crowns of kings from the Amhara and Tigray regions and smuggled them to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
However, the images were old and had been previously published on websites. One image, showing gold bars, was published on a website called PicLoc and is for sale. The second image, showing household items, was published on a Turkish website and is used to describe a house-to-house transportation service company.
The Ethiopian government bombed residential areas
One of the themes of disinformation in October was that the Ethiopian government was indiscriminately bombing the Amhara region, including civilian and densely populated residential areas.
For example, a TikTok video shared a video of burning buildings and claimed it showed the city of Gondar being bombed by the Ethiopian government.
However, the video was previously published on social media in August 2023 by Way To Go Heliservices, a company in New Zealand that provides helicopter services. The video shows a helicopter burning weeds.
Recommendations
HaqCheck advises social media users to exercise critical thinking when evaluating information encountered online and to verify claims from unknown or unverified sources before sharing them.
Social media content creators should be responsible and avoid disseminating false or misleading information.
We urge public institutions and other relevant entities to provide regular and timely updates.
Access to information is essential to reduce the widespread circulation of disinformation. The government should ensure the public and media’s right to access information.
