ADDIS ABABA – Experts say that creating a legal framework is critical in addressing the prevalent spread of hate speeches and fake information while media literacy is also equally important.
Reacting to the draft proclamation on prevention of hate speech and disinformation, which is now on the table of House’s Legal, Justice and Democracy Affairs Standing Committee for scrutiny, two legal experts told The Ethiopian Herald that issuance of proclamation critical but that would not be enough.
“Educating the public should be the most important issue to bring about attitudinal changes in the public,” says Ruhama Tafesse, a lawyer, who is also leadership member in Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Party. For her, hate speech and disinformation is a serious and growing problem in Ethiopia because they have been contributing to the growing ethnic tensions and conflicts across the country.
With the dissemination of false information, a lot of people have faced life-threatening attempts, property damage, defamation, and other related crimes, she said, adding that a legal framework is essential to prevent this dangerous trend.
However, she says that the spread of false information cannot simply be tackled by proclamation. “Working to change the attitudes of citizens and to make them law-abiding citizens should be mandatory,” she said. In addition to government, political parties, civic associations, media organizations, and journalists should work together with the government to prevent the spread of false information, she added.
On his part, Abdulfetah Abdellah, a lawyer, who is also Head of Ethiopian Indigenous Knowledge Study and Research Center, stated that, over the past years, lower level government officials, activists and others have been engaged in disseminating information that would have fueled tensions and conflicts through social media while some broadcast media have fanned them to aggravate situations.
The past two years were also the time when we have encountered a lot of cyber “fighters” have actively been engaged in fueling tensions and conflicts among the peoples of Ethiopia by spreading false information through the social media platform, apparently posing a great threat to the nation, he said.
To prevent the spread of hate speech and false information, the government has a great responsibility. However, other stakeholders must also support the move by educating the public in a way that can bring about attitudinal changes in the use of information disseminated by social media, according to him.
A draft proclamation on the prevention of hate speech and disinformation was reviewed by the House of Peoples’ Representatives last Tuesday. The draft law was directed to the House’s Legal, Justice and Democracy Affairs Standing Committee for a detailed review.
The Ethiopian Herald, November 29/2019
BY ABDUREZAK MOHAMMED
