Ethiopia has blocked social networks across the country after questions about the end-of-year college exams were published online last month, prompting a national scandal.
The leak of the national examination has become a serious problem for Ethiopian government, which forced the postponement of the tests.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Viber have been inaccessible since Saturday morning, and will continue to be blocked until national school exams do not finish on Wednesday, according to government officials.
A government spokesman said the ban was designed to reduce student distractions.
“It is a blockade. It is a temporary measure until Wednesday. Social media proved to be a distraction for students, ”government spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP news agency.
Ethiopia is one of the first African countries to censor the Internet, starting with 2006 with opposition blogs. Around 254.000 students are expected to take the national examination, according to the Ministry of Education of that country.
What does the international community say?
Last week, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution condemning the internet blockade as a human rights violation.
The great fear of everyone is that this practice will become commonplace for the rest of Africa. It is okay to define laws against crimes committed online (or using computer systems), but there is a fine line between security and violation of citizens' rights.
In Angola, we still don't have a law against “digital crimes” approved, what exists is a proposal, so these crimes would be judged based on the penal code. A similar case already occurred in Algeria… Does this “fashion” catch on?
What about you, do you think the Ethiopian government has taken the right attitude?
