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Ethiopia: The "Beka" Revolution on Facebook and Twitter is being noticed
Ethiopia's own Facebook revolution may not get the attention it deserves from the mainstream media, slowly but surely, people are noticing it. To coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Nakba, several Ethiopians have launched a campaign on Social media websites like Facebook and Twitter by changing their profile images to that of Ethiopian Flag with the Amharic word "Beka" [enough] written on it. Writing for the The Cord, Shagun Randhawa says, "hundreds of Ethiopians have changed their profile picture to posters that have the Ahmaric word, “enough” while several groups are calling for nationwide protests on May 28, 20 years after Prime Minister Meles Zenawi came into power. Uganda’s Communications Commission has since ordered telecom companies to block access to social networking websites and have since proved they can intercept messages in order to suppress the uprisings."
Ethiopia has one of the lowest mobile phone and Internet penetration Rates anywhere in the world. The government is the sole provider of all electronic communication services and frequently blocks websites it deems are critical to the government. So it is not lost on many that, revolution aided by social media is much harder in Ethiopia than the case in North Africa and the Middle East, which have millions of Internet users.
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