Ethiopia Shutdown Internet Access Again due to a Coup Attempt

The Ethiopian government which recently shut down the internet to prevent exam malpractice in the country has again, restricted internet access due to a failed Coup d’état by some soldiers in Amhara state on the 22nd of June 2019.

The government shut down the internet as a counter-operations to the insurgency. Access to WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram and other online services have been completely shut down.  The shutdown affects SMS services as well as businesses and tech startups. These leaves the citizens with no other choice than to rely on national television and radio for information and updates.

According to NetBlocks– a non-governmental organization that monitors cybersecurity and the governance of the internet, the internet shutdown costs Ethiopians a loss of $4.5 million daily. They revealed that the current real-time data that maps the IP space of a country shows that about 2% and 3% of Ethiopia’s network remains reachable. In essence, the shutdown affects the whole country except for a few locations.

However, NetBlocks reported that internet connectivity was fully restored in Ethiopia on Thursday the 27th of June 2019. The restoration comes 100 hours after a full outage of internet access. “Internet access is currently being restored across Ethiopia as of 6:00 a.m. UTC Thursday 27 June according to network measurement data. Current levels are approaching 90% of normal connectivity levels prior to the disruption.”

See also:  Ethiopia Shuts Down Internet Access to prevent Exam Malpractice

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