Ethiopian social media lovers have a reason to smile as they are now back online after being blocked for five months.
Ethiopians are now able to access Social media networks like Facebook and Instagram on Wednesday 19 July 2023 ,according to an internet advocacy organisation and an AFP journalist.
A service run by the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), an association that tracks online censorship, showed that access to social networks in Africa’s second-most populous country was freely available after being shut down in early February.
An AFP journalist in Addis Ababa was able to access sites including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok without using a virtual private network (VPN), a mechanism that enables an internet connection from a different location.
OONI and other internet censorship watchdogs reported a social media blackout in Ethiopia since February 9.