Ethiopia will launch home grown social media platforms to rival Twitter and Facebook, head of the country’s intelligence outfit has disclosed.
Shumete Gizaw, Director of the Information Network Security Agency (INSA) said other virtual communication platforms such as WhatsApp and Zoom will be replaced.
Reports by the Ai Ain news portal said the INSA boss said some of the rival platforms were under trial.
Gizaw related the recent initiatives to the closure of government affiliated accounts by Facebook in the lead up to recently held elections.
“Regardless of the pages’ ownership, the shutdown of the page is unjust since they all had the right to ownership,” he is quoted to have said.
The current war in the northern Tigray region which is spreading to other regions has largely been fought via social media platforms Facebook and Twitter.
source: Ghana Web