CSO and Media Mapping Report| Increasing Resilience to Online and Offline Violence in Ethiopia

Search, in partnership with Empathy For Life Integrated Development Association (ELiDA), Zeleman Productions and Build Up is implementing the project “Increasing Resilience to Online and Offline Violence in Ethiopia” which aims to create a sustainable shift in how Ethiopians perceive and respond to online hate speech and misinformation (HSMI). By empowering communities and stakeholders to recognize and counteract harmful narratives, this project’s goal is that a safer, more cohesive, and peaceful online and offline environment in Ethiopia is fostered.

This report maps and analyze the existing civil society and media landscape in Ethiopia. It focuses on identifying key actors, assessing the effectiveness and gaps in current peacebuilding efforts, and determining influential platforms and media outlets to inform stakeholder selection and guide targeted interventions for countering online hate speech and misinformation

Key Findings:

CONTEXTUAL FINDINGS

Finding#1: The overall political and economic environment in Ethiopia is unfavorable for addressing HSMI.

Finding #2: The proliferation of hate speech and disinformation online is worsening gender inequality and increasing technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV).

Findings #3: Despite some gaps, existing laws and policies are generally adequate to address HSMI.

Finding #4: Institutions responsible for implementing laws and policies lack the capacity to effectively combat HSMI.

Finding #5: Social media significantly influences Ethiopia’s socio-economic and political landscape but remains highly vulnerable to manipulation.

Finding 6: The number of organizations or individuals actively working to identify and address harmful online content in Ethiopia remains insufficient.

Finding #7: Efforts to tackle disinformation and hate speech among stakeholders lack effective collaboration and coordination.

Finding #8: The spread of harmful online content is increasing, posing a major challenge to peacebuilding efforts.

Finding #9: HSMI is becoming both a cause and effect of the current political and social crisis In Ethiopia

Finding #10: Media and civil society space has continued to shrink during and after the Tigray war.

Finding #11: Specific groups such as women, youth, the elderly, IDPs, and minority communities lack the space and mechanisms to build resilience to violence in their unique contexts.

Finding #12: Peacebuilding efforts face significant capacity gaps, including trust, collaboration, and civic engagement— particularly in the Amhara and Oromia regions.

Finding #13: There are no adequate strategies to effectively engage women in peace building initiatives.

Conclusions

This assessment found that various stakeholders— including  CSOs, media outlets, government entities, and private actors—are undertaking both online and offline activities related to HSMI and peacebuilding. Existing laws are generally adequate to address the challenges of HSMI; however, enforcement remains weak.

CSOs and media institutions lack sufficient capacity to effectively address HSMI or make meaningful contributions to peacebuilding. While the liberalization of the media sector and the rapid expansion of internet access have increased opportunities for expression, they have also fueled the proliferation of HSMI.

A major gap identified is the lack of collaboration and coordinated approaches among key stakeholders. In particular, gender-sensitive initiatives are limited and often underemphasized, weakening the inclusivity and impact of peacebuilding efforts.

Recommendations

1. 1. Advocate for Proper Implementation of Laws and Policies: Although Ethiopia has enacted laws and policies to combat hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation (HSMI), their enforcement remains limited. Future interventions should focus on raising awareness and strengthening the government’s commitment to enforce these laws. Support should be directed toward building the capacity of institutions tasked with promoting peacebuilding and countering HSMI. Both financial and technical assistance are needed. In addition, improving public access to reliable information is essential in combating HSMI.
   2. Build Public Trust and Confidence: The assessment found a crisis of public trust in media, largely due to political polarization and media alignment with conflicting groups. This distrust reduces the media’s legitimacy and limits its impact. Given the prevalence of fake news and HSMI, future interventions must prioritize restoring public trust—particularly in social media. This includes providing media outlets with the technology and training needed to fact-check, filter misinformation, and promote credible information that is relevant to the broader public, not just elites. Media organizations should also be equipped to challenge misinformation from powerful political and activist sources. Strategies must be developed to build societal resilience to disruptions within the information ecosystem. 
   3. Partner with Social Media Platforms (Tech Companies): Considering Ethiopia’s linguistic diversity, interventions should target platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Telegram, and TikTok to expand language support in their content moderation tools. With rising ethnic tensions, tech companies must be encouraged to ensure their platforms are used safely, ethically, and in ways that uphold human rights. Advocacy efforts should push for the responsible and transparent application of platform policies in Ethiopia.
   4. Promote Inclusive Citizen Participation in Peacebuilding: The assessment revealed that citizen engagement in peacebuilding is limited. Interventions should empower citizens, build trust between the government and the public, and promote inclusive participation—particularly among women, youth, and persons with disabilities. A gendered, conflict-sensitive, and risk-informed community mapping approach should be applied to identify local actors and opportunities for engagement. Strategies should also create space for meaningful participation by women and their organizations in peace processes, transitional justice mechanisms, and national dialogues.
   5. Foster Cooperation and Networking: Although various CSO and media networks exist in Ethiopia, coordinated efforts are limited. Where such forums are absent, Search can facilitate the creation of multi-sectoral coalitions focused on addressing HSMI. Priority should be given to inclusive platforms involving women, persons with disabilities, government institutions, and academia (e.g., ECSOC, EMC, Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Center). These networks would help increase access to support systems for those countering HSMI.
   6. Prioritize Action on TFGBV: TFGBV remains a severely under-addressed issue. Only two interventions—by the Center for Information Resilience (CIR) and CARD—were identified. CIR’s findings revealed that 78% of women affected by TFGBV do not report the incidents. Recommendations include: educational campaigns to counter gender stereotypes; the development of an online reporting network; legal reforms to criminalize online harassment; improved reporting mechanisms; and the creation of context-specific lexicons. Search can support one or more of these actions to enhance protection for women online.
   7. Empower Youth Against HSMI: Youth empowerment should be a central strategy. Initiatives should equip young people with the skills to recognize, report, and challenge HSMI across digital and offline platforms. Mentorship and financial support should be offered to new and emerging youth- and women-led organizations working in this space. Involving young journalists from diverse ethnic backgrounds in media partnerships can further support the creation of constructive narratives that counter hate speech and harmful gender norms.