Consider This from NPR - Social Media Misinformation Stokes A Worsening Civil War In Ethiopia

Episode Date: October 13, 2021

Hate and division on Facebook are not just a problem in the U.S. That's one of the messages whistleblower Frances Haugen took to Congress last week, where she accused Facebook's algorithms of quote, "literally fanning ethnic violence in Ethiopia," a country that's endured nearly a year of civil war. Freelance reporter Zecharias Zelalem has been keeping track of how inflammatory posts on Facebook have led to attacks in the real world. And NPR's East Africa Correspondent Eyder Peralta describes what Ethiopia looks like from the ground as he moves closer toward the conflict. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at [e-mail]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This message comes from Indiana University. Indiana University performs breakthrough research every year, making discoveries that improve human health, combat climate change, and move society forward. More at iu.edu slash forward. If there weren't a brutal civil war going on, you might think that the swearing in of Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was the uneventful inauguration of an incumbent. A new beginning. That was the message on display behind Ethiopia's Prime Minister, as he sat on a stage draped with gold ribbons as military bands marched past.

Abiy celebrated his second five-year term last week. And to the outside world, it might have looked like all was well in Ethiopia, but those passing by knew differently. Like Tamu Shatala, who was thinking about the ongoing and worsening civil war. He told NPR correspondent Eder Peralta that what hurts the most is that it's a war between brothers. Between brothers, between sisters, no result. 60-year-old Hataleshka Besa was walking past the inauguration stage on her way home from church. She said she hopes that this new beginning means peace,

and that peace, she said, is more important than everything else. My fear is that without action, divisive and extremist behaviors we see today peace. And that peace, she said, is more important than everything else. My fear is that without action, divisive and extremist behaviors we see today are only the beginning. This nearly year-long civil war was on the mind of Facebook whistleblower Francis Haugen last week as well. And I'll mention here that Facebook is one of NPR's financial sponsors. We cover them like any other company. And more than once, Haugen mentioned Ethiopia, accusing Facebook's algorithms of, quote, literally fanning ethnic violence there. What we saw in Myanmar and are now seeing in Ethiopia are only the opening chapters of a story so terrifying, no one wants to read the end of it. But there are people trying to write about that story.

Prominent Facebook posters would post unverified, often inflammatory posts or rhetoric that would then go on to incite mob violence. Freelance journalist Sakarius Selelem reports extensively on Ethiopia. He agrees with Haugen's assessment. I know of a very recent instance where a media outlet posted an inflammatory post He agrees with Haugen's assessment. hundreds of likes, all sorts of reaction. And a day later, on the 28th of September, so just barely two weeks ago, the village cited in the Facebook post was ransacked, burned to the ground, inhabitants murdered. And despite multiple efforts to report the post,

it remains up and live as of this moment. Consider this. In Ethiopia, old ethnic tensions are being stoked in new ways. And that means that bloody civil war with no clear end in sight is likely to be entering an even more destructive phase. From NPR, I'm Adi Cornish. It's Wednesday, October 13th. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies.

Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the WISE app today, or visit WISE.com. T's and C's apply. It's Consider This from NPR. Ethiopia's civil war is a conflict between the country's new rulers and its old ones, who were based in the Tigray region in the north. And that's where the war started. But now it's expanded south and east to neighboring states. Millions of Ethiopians have been displaced.

Prominent members of the Ethiopian government or pro-government activists have been ramping up anti-Tigrayan rhetoric. Again, freelance journalist Zakarias Zalellam. Inflammatory rhetoric targeting anyone who might be deemed critical of the Ethiopian government or critical of the Ethiopian government's narratives. Zalellam has been following how misinformation on Facebook and social media has been stoking the conflict. This has more or less normalized the state violence that's been targeting ethnic Tigrayans

over the course of the past 11 months, instilled a degree of fear amongst the Ethiopian population. The Ethiopian government denies accusations of ethnic cleansing. Zalellam says there have been incidents well-documented by human rights groups and media outlets. At this point, 11 months into the conflict, it's not really something that's up for debate anymore. In the meantime, Facebook denies allegations the platform has helped sow violence. When we reached out to them for this story,

a spokesperson sent NPR a statement saying that Ethiopia was a company priority, and that Facebook has added content reviewers in several local languages, and that Facebook has, quote, worked to improve our proactive detection so that we can remove more harmful content at scale. I can quite honestly say that Facebook has, if it has done anything, it's not nearly enough, at least, because there have been more than enough documented incidents. While Ethiopian officials are using social media to bolster government support, to the north, in the Tigray region, that's nearly impossible to do. Telecommunications are cut off, and there's a very, very little internet access.

Kara Anna is the AP's East Africa reporter. Very, very little, almost no humanitarian aid is now getting in. No medical supplies, at least for the past month. No fuel for the past month. And then food warehouses are going empty. As the war drags on, the government is also tightening its scrutiny of the press. And we got a tiny glimpse of that from NPR's East Africa correspondent, Eder Peralta. Now, Eder arrived in the country and quickly had every piece of his equipment confiscated. My microphones, my recorders, and I had to go from government office to government office trying to get it back. We'll hear more about that in a bit, but first I wanted to hear what Eder was hearing from Ethiopians as he traveled closer to the conflict.

So I'm in Gondor, which is in the northern part of the country, and we've been moving slowly northward toward the front lines of this war. And, you know, just along the way, we've been talking to lots of people. And what I've heard is humans whose opinions and feelings have hardened. You know, at the center of this conflict is a centuries-old ethnic rivalry between Amharas and Tigrayans. And so when you talk to regular people, they frame this war as existential. They're out to kill us, and we can't let them. And I've spoken to teenagers and old men who say that they have weapons, and they're willing to fight to the death.

But at the same time, you know, this is a war, and with it comes heartbreak. I saw, you know, one mom a war and with it comes heartbreak. I saw, you know, one mom cry because her son, her beautiful son, she told me, took off in the middle of the night to join the war in a town called Debre Tabor today. I spoke to Dires Nega. He's 64 years old and seven of his family members were killed when rebels shelled his home. He lost four of his children and his wife. And as we talked in front of his house, he looked desolate. And I asked him, you know, why he thought Ethiopians were willing to kill each other. Let's listen. He doesn't know why this war is ongoing,

except his understanding is that Tigrayans are coming just to kill or destroy the Amharas. And he's saying no one was from the family or anybody was engaging in any active war, but he lost almost his entire family. He says, accept the reality and give his pain to God. Help us better understand what is going on. What exactly is this Tigray rebel party trying to accomplish? Are they trying to pull away from Ethiopia or rule it? I mean, look, they haven't said that. I think this is a complicated conflict that has,

you know, roots that are centuries old. But I think if we can boil it down, this is a power struggle between Ethiopia's old government, which are the Tigrayan party that rules this part of Ethiopia, and the new government. I want to ask, and maybe too soon to ask this, but what are the prospects for a ceasefire, a prospect for peace? I mean, Ethiopia's prime minister at one point won a Nobel Peace Prize, right? Yeah, I don't think there are prospects in the near term. In fact, I mean, this week, the rebels say that the government started bombing them and that they launched a new ground invasion. Of course, I mean, if confirmed, this means that the unilateral ceasefire that the government had declared earlier in the summer is totally off.

I did speak to a member of parliament who says that plans are underway toward a national dialogue. But at the moment, all I am hearing from all the parties in this conflict is bravado. And that doesn't bode well for peace. I want to ask about the humanitarian situation, because so many people have been displaced in this war already. What are the efforts in to get support to the parts of the country that are cut off? What have you heard? Look, humanitarians say that the most dire conditions in this country are in the areas controlled by the rebels. The government has imposed a de facto blockade in the region, and the international community says that hundreds of thousands of people are

living in famine-like conditions. And getting to the truth is difficult, Adi, because the government has also turned off the phones and the Internet in the region. And we have also asked permission to enter the blockaded region. But so far, the government has denied our request. No phones, no Internet. Your request denied to go further in on the ground to do more reporting. Can you tell us a little bit about what's going on for journalists? I mean, how are people, how is the government approaching this?

I mean, look, Ari, I think, as you mentioned, Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize in part because he made such significant changes when he came into power. I've been coming into this country since the old government was in, since Abiy Ahmed became prime minister. And let me tell you, when he first became prime minister, you could walk into this country and you could go wherever you wanted. You could talk to whoever you wanted. You would flow right through the airport. And this time around, it felt like we were in the old days of Ethiopia. When I came in, you know, they took a look at all my stories, and we had a three-hour conversation at one point with government officials about my stories. And

I had to stand there and defend my stories and why we said what we said, which I have no problem doing, right? But this gives you a sense of how controlling this government is being. And the government official told me, look, right now we are fighting a war for the heart of Ethiopia, to keep this country together. And they feel that they're entitled to curb some of these freedoms to keep this country together, they say. NPR International correspondent, Eder Peralta. You're listening to Consider This from NPR. I'm Adi Cornish.