News: Media must refrain from disseminating ‘hate speech and false information’: Ethiopian Media Authority
By Addis standard staff
Addis Ababa : The Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) has been reported for saying that media establishments recognized as “renouncing the national interest and breaking the peace” would be held accountable.
Mohammed Idris, Director General of the EMA, reportedly said: “Even though the media is expected to provide timely information, priority must be given to the national interest and the preservation of communal peace and security. He added that in times of national distress, the dissemination of information that could benefit “enemy forces” should be avoided and work should be done to deliver society from the dilemmas encountered.
In a contextualization of the warning, the Director General pointed out that Ethiopia faces challenges and for the country to emerge victorious, the media must play a supportive role. Likewise, Admasu Damtaw and Niguessie Mengesha (Ph.D.), Managing Directors of Fana Broadcasting Network (FBC) and Walta TV, respectively, emphasized that the media should never compromise national interests.
This comes amid renewed fighting between Tigrayan forces and the Federal Government of Ethiopia (FGoE) despite months-long attempts to secure a formal ceasefire and end an on-and-off war that began in November 2020. .
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had noticed that at least 63 journalists and media personalities had been imprisoned since the outbreak of the northern civil war two years ago. The committee noted that journalists who published a different reporting narrative than the government regarding the war were exposed to the plausibility of arrest and some even had to close their offices.
Addis Standard covered the arrests of journalists in connection with the war in northern Ethiopia. The international media had reported on the arrest of journalists and the expulsion of foreign reporters in connection with the war, as in the case of the New York Times journalist, the expulsion of Simon Marks, but also extended to the sharing of “sensitive national issues” according to the EMA. , causing the revocation of the press license of Tom Gardner, Economist’s resident reporter in Ethiopia. AS
