Ethiopia’s media regulator is warning foreign news outlets that publishing specific references that it says mischaracterize the country’s war-torn northern Tigray region will be met with legal consequences.
“In reviewing and monitoring the news reports, the Ethiopian Media Authority [EMA] has found that some foreign media are repeatedly characterizing [the Tigray People’s Liberation Front - TPLF] as a national army by calling it the Tigray Defense Force or TDF,” said an official statement issued on agency letterhead Friday that was sent to VOA.
An earlier warning had been sent to at least two foreign media outlets.
The statement sent to VOA, signed by agency chief Yonatan Tesfaye Regassa, comes one day after the EMA revoked the license of the Addis Standard’s publisher, accusing the monthly magazine and news website of advancing the agenda of a “terrorist group,” without providing more specifics.
That “terrorist group” was thought to be the TPLF, which Addis Ababa has been battling in Ethiopia’s north since November, Reuters has reported. The TPLF is a former member of the coalition that ruled Ethiopia for more than 30 years. In May, Ethiopia designated the group a terrorist organization.
Director General of the Ethiopian Media Authority Mohammed Idris said in an interview with VOA that the government could revoke the licenses of media outlets that violate the new policy.
"When you compare them [the foreign media] with the local media, you see them using these terms without any reservation. In some cases, surprisingly, even individuals who are not in the media use the terms or endorse them," he said.
"We have notified the foreign media that it is inappropriate to act in such a way and they should refrain from using them. The local media also have been notified to be careful when they use these terms or bear the consequences. The consequences, as it is enshrined in the law, could go up to revocation of their registration."
EMA officials on Thursday said they revoked the license over complaints that the Addis Standard was advancing “the terrorist group’s agency,” including by “legitimizing a terrorist group as a ‘Defense Force.’” The suspension drew outrage from global press freedom watchdogs, who’ve accused the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of taking an increasingly hard line against domestic news outlets covering the conflict.
‘A grave violation of Ethiopian law’
Friday’s warning directed at foreign outlets appeared to escalate TPLF coverage restrictions.
“Bearing in mind that Tigray is one of the federation units of Ethiopia that cannot have a force with that nomenclature [such as ‘Defense Force’] and as the country’s parliament has labeled TPLF a terrorist organization, the [EMA hereby] informs that use of such terminology violates Ethiopia’s territorial integrity, national interest and security,” Friday’s statement said.
Warning all foreign media against "using such characterization," the statement said, “further use of the same terminology by any foreign media will be a grave violation of Ethiopian law, which will lead to stringent measures.”
When Prime Minister Ahmed came to power in 2018, it appeared that Ethiopia would shake off its reputation as having a repressive media environment, but conditions for journalists have worsened in the face of new political challenges, according to reports by multiple press freedom advocates.
Friday’s new coverage guidelines for the Tigray conflict come two weeks after police in the capital arrested about 20 journalists and staff from the independent broadcaster Awlo Media Center and YouTube-based broadcaster Ethio-Forum, both of which have been critical of the government.
The state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission on Sunday said federal police had since released three of the journalists.
