Ethiopia imposes social media blackout during school exams
Ethiopia’s government has blocked access to social media platforms in the country to stop school pupils being distracted while writing their examinations this week.A similar shutdown was experienced in Zimbabwe last week during a one-day stay-away – but that was believed to have been aimed at frustrating activists organising the protest.The Africa Report‚ an international publication‚ said the social media blackout in Ethiopia had been verified by the government communications office because it wanted pupils to “focus on their exam” and “not to be distracted”.Social media services such as Viber‚ Facebook‚ Instagram‚ YouTube and Twitter have been inaccessible in the country since the weekend‚ the publication said.The ban follows disruptions to examinations that were caused earlier this year by the leaking online of an English paper in Ethiopia. ..
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