Rights groups say this as part of a pattern of targeting news outlets – the government has not commented.
Background
Ethiopia’s independent press has moved through sharp cycles over the past decade. A period of rapid opening after 2018 saw exiled journalists return, blocked websites restored and new outlets launched, but the space narrowed again during and after the conflict in the north, with detentions, licence revocations and internet restrictions becoming regular features. Press freedom organisations have tracked the country’s position falling back over successive years.
The pattern that monitoring groups describe is generally not a formal ban. It is the detention of individual editors and reporters, often held for extended periods before any charge is filed, sometimes under anti-terrorism or state-of-emergency provisions. Because charges frequently do not follow, the effect on newsrooms is achieved through the disruption itself rather than through any court outcome.
Why it matters here
Ethiopia is Kenya’s neighbour and one of the region’s largest economies, and what happens to reporting there directly limits what East African readers can know about it. It also sits within a broader regional trend. Journalists across the Horn and East Africa, Kenya included, have faced arrests, equipment seizures and pressure over coverage of protests and security operations, and press freedom groups treat these as connected rather than isolated national stories.
What to watch next
The indicators are whether charges are formally filed, whether the detention is acknowledged by the authorities, whether the outlet continues publishing, and whether regional bodies or press freedom organisations secure access to the detained journalist. Government silence is itself part of the pattern that monitors record.
Read the full report at BBC News
Source: BBC News
