Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/214070 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Citation: 
[Journal:] Internet Policy Review [ISSN:] 2197-6775 [Volume:] 8 [Issue:] 1 [Publisher:] Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society [Place:] Berlin [Year:] 2019 [Pages:] 1-22
Publisher: 
Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin
Abstract: 
For nearly three decades, Ethiopia's current ruling party, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), has maintained its power through a highly centralized, vanguard party system. Recently, the Ethiopian government has extensively used the provisions of the Ethiopian Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (EATP) to prosecute several Ethiopian citizens and organizations that are critical of the ruling party. By framing the adoption and execution of the EATP as an outcome of EPRDF's long-term hegemonic project coalesced in neopatrimonialism, this paper demonstrates how the Ethiopian State has created a rational-legal bureaucracy that exploits terrorism narratives to stifle critical speech on digital as well as traditional media. The result is the making of an online public that is unsure of what could be considered as a "terrorist" message as opposed to "normal" speech, who, in an attempt to not take the risk altogether, may avoid participating in political discourse. While the disbandment of the neopatrimonial order is key in dislodging Ethiopia's legislative bottlenecks to civic liberties, a more urgent task calls for a move toward participatory, inclusive, and equitable Internet policy framework.
Subjects: 
Counter-terrorism
Freedom of expression
Ethiopia
Neopatrimonialism
EPRDF
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.