Wednesday, May 24, 2006

VOA Reports on Censorship in Ethiopia

[Listen to the Report]

".....The head of the organization's internet freedom section, Julien Pain, says he suspects that the Ethiopian government has blocked the Internet sites.

"We found out that many opposition Web sites and web blogs have been blocked in Ethiopia," Pain says. "We cannot prove that it is because of government's decision, but we believe it is very likely because they were accessible three weeks ago and all of a sudden they just disappeared from the internet. The Web sites are not shut down. They are blocked, and obviously filtered in Ethiopia and still accessible in the rest of the world."

Pain says the Web sites' blocking will increase political tensions in the country, and that that he thinks many Ethiopians will suffer because of the blockages."(More...)

Other sources covering this development:

American chronicle
International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX)
The Age
Sudan Tribune
Political Gateway
Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Business in Africa
www.journalism.co.za