Members of the ruling Prosperity Party, especially those who operate under the Addis Ababa branch office and have the title of ‘media army’; An investigation by the BBC has confirmed that individuals who criticize and oppose the government have been involved in the distribution of false information on Facebook, as well as articles and images that could be considered ‘hate speech’.
The investigation also showed that Addis Ababa city administration district leaders also participate in misleading campaigns on Facebook to artificially build the image of the government at the behest of the party’s district structures. For this report, the BBC spoke to district leaders in Addis Ababa, party members, and communication officers and experts working in the city and federal government offices.
The BBC. The party’s district structures located in seven sub-cities of Addis Ababa city have seen the messages exchanged in WhatsApp and Telegram groups for social media campaigns. In the groups, he monitored the orders given to the district leaders and members of the media army and their implementation. It also analyzed by taking Facebook data.
Facebook’s parent company Meta; In his response to the BBC, he announced that he had received an investigation into the use of “fake accounts” to post “a large number of positive comments” on “Ethiopian government” Facebook posts. meta He stated that he had taken action against the fake accounts and pages involved in this act, and the accounts that the BBC had been monitoring had also been removed.
The Prosperity Party, on the other hand, denied the issue in a written response to the BBC, stating that there is no such thing as a ‘media army’. Party Headquarters; “In particular, the expression ‘texts and images that could be considered false information and hate speech [are distributed]’ is an absolutely unacceptable expression,” he said.
The BBC. The results of a three-month investigation into Facebook campaigns by members of the Prosperity Party’s ‘media army’; He compiled this detailed report.
Three months ago, January 2, 2016. From about nine o’clock in the afternoon, posts saying “Abune Petros fled the country” began to spread on many Ethiopian Facebook accounts and pages.
These posts, which are made with a composite image of photos and text, are posted on Facebook; It was after Abune Petros, general secretary of the Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, traveled to America from Addis Ababa.
Abune Petros, the archbishop of the Diocese of New York and the surrounding area, who left the country; According to the information obtained by the BBC from the church, they “followed the official procedure”.
The three main articles published on the day were “Breaking Information; Abune Petros fled the country”, “American Abune Petros fled the country!” and “The Facts Behind American Abu Peter Kubla!” They have an introduction.
The writings Abune Petros; They accuse him of “leading a political organization in the church” and “disappearing with a lot of money and property belonging to the church.”
The most popular of the three articles was “Breaking News; Abune Petros ran away from the country,” this article was published on January 2 and 3, 2016. The BBC has confirmed that it has been posted at least 1,004 times on various Facebook accounts and pages. This article posted with graphic images; In just two days of January, this was shared at least 898 times on Facebook.
It was the next day that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church denied the matter, pointing out that “the rumor circulating on social media is very wrong”. Abune Petros, who was asked by the BBC about the matter; They said they did not want to comment.
About a month after this message was spread, Abune Petros, who was said to have been “cobbled” returned to Ethiopia, but he was sent back to where he came from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.
On that day, the posts made on Facebook about the general secretary of the Synod “Mekoble”; They weren’t the usual kind of fake news spread by regular Facebook users. According to the BBC: The release of the information found evidence of links to the ruling Prosperity Party, which has been in conflict with the church since January last year.
Government January 2015 The dispute between the two bodies, which was highlighted by the fact that he “gave support” to the clerics who defected from the Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church; Following the speech given by some church fathers in support of the militants, January of the same year followed.
According to the BBC, among the sources of the images related to the articles stating that the general secretary of the Synod, Abune Petros, is fleeing, are the WhatsApp groups of the Addis Ababa office of the ruling Prosperity Party.
The WhatsApp groups are where the party’s constituency structures forward messages to members of the ‘media army’ that they want to spread on social media in the form of a campaign.
The BBC. In one of these WhatsApp groups, he has been monitoring the content of messages exchanged between the members of the media army and their officials, the orders being passed and the content of the campaigns being carried out. The WhatsApp group is managed by a district party office under the Kirkos sub-city Prosperity Party branch office. https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/17454066/embed?auto=1
On January 2 when Abune Petros went to America, the members of this group; They were ordered to post 19 pictures on Facebook containing the image of the Synod’s general secretary and a caption stating that they had fled. When the admin of the group sends these images; He also ordered members of the group to spread the images “widely” on their “informal” Facebook pages.
The message sent to the members of the media army of the district; “Actively coordinate this message to be widely circulated on all informal pages. Let there be no structure of ours that does not participate. It contains the command “Let everyone participate”.
The images sent in the WhatsApp group are similar to the images attached to the posts shared on Facebook. The BBC found that the three texts had not been sent to members of the group.
It was not only the district party structure of the Kirkos sub-district that made members of the prosperity media army participate in this campaign. Members of the Prosperity Party in Bole sub-district have also been sent articles and pictures describing Abunu’s “college”.
These pictures and texts were sent on the WhatsApp group of the leadership members of the district party office; The source revealed that it is with the command “Make a campaign”.
“[The text sent to the group] describes the nationality of Abune Petros and says, ‘They left the country, they fled.’ “They left the country illegally by preparing various fake documents under the guise of their foreign citizenship,” he said, confirming to the BBC that the text released on the WhatsApp group was the same as the one shared on Facebook that day.
The case of Abune Petros; Addis Ababa City Prosperity Office is not the only Facebook campaign coordinated by the district structures.
Members of the ‘Media Army’ and their orders
The BBC has confirmed that the party’s Addis Ababa district structures have been repeatedly distributing text, images and videos on Facebook in the form of a campaign to build the image of the government.
The BBC. He found six other Telegram groups in Yeka, Akaki Kaliti, Wind Phone Lafto, Mimi Kura, Gulele and Kolfe Karanio sub-districts where party district structures exchange messages with members of the media army.
Members of the Prosperity Party, as well as government communication officers and experts working in federal and Addis Ababa city government institutions, who spoke to the BBC, stated that the Facebook campaigns are carried out by the party’s ‘media army’ members and district leaders. The sources also said that the campaigns are conducted so that the “narratives of the government and party prevail”.
The so-called ‘media army’ consists of individuals who are members of youth and women’s leagues and who are designated as ‘community activists’, the BBC has learned from sources it spoke to, as well as messages from relevant WhatsApp and Telegram groups.
Addis Ababa city district leaders will participate in this activity, four sources who are district leaders as well as the head of communication and experts in the city administration structures told the BBC. The BBC. The monitoring of WhatsApp and Telegram groups of district party offices in Kirkos and Ka sub-towns confirms what the sources said.
Message exchanges in Yeka sub-district one district Telegram group with more than 30 members; It shows that the members of the group are the heads of various offices in the district administration. The BBC. Individuals who have proven to be district leaders are in the group.
According to three sources who spoke to the BBC, all leaders in the city’s district are required to have more than one Facebook account according to the “direction” given to them by the party. This type of additional account is referred to as an “informal page” in WhatsApp and Telegram groups.
According to the information obtained by the BBC, the participation of district leaders in social media is not voluntary. Addis Ababa’s district leadership, district communications chief and a communications expert working in an office of the city administration told the BBC that the leaders’ use of social media is also on the evaluation agenda.
A district leader stated that the work carried out in the districts of the city is evaluated and given “political direction” by a “coordinating committee” consisting of five “core leaders” drawn from the district administration and party structure.
The sources say that the issue of social media use will be presented as an agenda in the evaluations of this committee; “If [a leadership member] does not participate in the ‘campaign’ agenda, he is held accountable. It is said that about 30 [district] leaders participated in this. A screenshot will be uploaded. [Transferred] to the sub-city, it is said that Ekele Ekele participated, Ekele Ekele did not participate,” they explain that it is a matter of accountability. https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/17466706/embed?auto=1
A district communications officer told the BBC that this type of review will be conducted even in the district. Party officials conducting reviews; “Why don’t you like, share?” about posts on government and party pages. They also stated that they will present a question to the participants.
In the various districts of the party that the BBC observed, the social media participation of the members is frequently raised on the WhatsApp and Telegram groups of the party structure. Members of the media army are being asked to send “screenshots” of their likes, comments and shares, the BBC has seen from the group’s messages.
Orders were passed in the groups asking district leaders and the media army to send links to their Facebook accounts and to open their locked Facebook accounts for “inspection” purposes.
Repeated attempts by the BBC to get the opinion of the district leaders of Addis Ababa city administration regarding this activity on social media and their involvement in spreading false information and hate speech have been unsuccessful.
The head of the city’s communication office, Mrs. Motheralem, replied that the question should be submitted by letter, but the BBC did not respond.
The head office of the Prosperity Party, on the other hand, denied the matter in a written response to the BBC, stating that there is no such thing as a ‘media army’ within the party’s structure. The party He stated in his response that he “does not do activities different from the normal purpose of social media” in order to artificially build the image of the government and high officials.
It stated that it encourages party members to “promote the party’s positions on its pages and personal accounts” and to “retaliate based on the party’s principles against misguided or deliberate campaigns.”
The main office. “However, apart from using social media in a positive way, [party members] will never open fake accounts or send a monotonous message,” he defended himself.
“Creating Adoption” with a Facebook campaign
After the political change that brought Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration to power six years ago, the influence of social media in Ethiopian politics is “very high,” says Befkadu Haileu, director general of the Rights and Democracy Development Center (CARD).
In 2008 In particular, the protests in the Oromia region were led by political activists who were pointing out strike routes and showing direction on Facebook.
The prime minister’s administration that came to power as a result of this protest; Ato Fqadu explains that “it seems to be facing a crisis of acceptability” at the moment.
CARD Executive Director; They point out that “the great instability in Oromia, Amhara [regions], which have large populations, as well as the most influential Tigray region” are the main reason for this lack of acceptance.
“Insecurity, economic crises associated with the insecurity, human rights violations, restrictions on citizens’ movement [and] many other problems have undermined [the government’s] credibility.” “The rule of law has been eroded and corruption is on the rise,” he said, citing other reasons.
Ato Befqadu stated that he believes that the public’s dissatisfaction with the public has been reflected on social networking sites, creating the impression that the Prime Minister does not have many friends and supporters.
Mr. Befqadu says that he has noticed “positive, praiseworthy, genuine and unnatural” comments under the Prime Minister’s posts or in videos where he is seen; They add that this movement seems to be a “method of manufacturing approval and acceptance” that the government has lost for various reasons.
The BBC observed that the Prime Minister appeared in the House of Representatives and gave an explanation in the Kirkos sub-city district WhatsApp group. Or when his speech is broadcasted by the government media, comments prepared in different languages are sent to the members of the media.
Prime Minister Abiy January 28/2016 Let us take as an example the activities of the members of the media army when they were present to give explanations to the questions submitted by the members of parliament regarding the performance of their government for six months.
On this day, members of the WhatsApp group were sent to comment on articles praising Prime Minister Abiy, the government and the Prosperity Party. The 93 messages sent for comments on the Prime Minister’s page, which was broadcasting the meeting live; They are prepared in Amharic and Oromo languages.
Ten thousand comments were made when the first part of the parliamentary session was live streamed on the Prime Minister’s Facebook page. The BBC. Using a tool to extract Facebook comments in the form of a document, he randomly selected about five thousand for survey. A survey of selected comments; It showed that the posts sent in the WhatsApp group were commented on at least 160 times.
The BBC. The prime minister’s office did not receive a response to a request made to the spokesperson of the office whether it was aware of this type of activity being carried out on Abiy Ahmed’s Facebook page.
Another time when comments were made on articles prepared in this way was when the program “From Aqaki to the Forest” was broadcast live on the Facebook page of the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC).
January 8 and 9/2016 This program presented in two series; Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was seen giving a tour to his officials of the “mega projects” built and under way in the city of Addis Ababa.
On the days that the program was broadcast, members of the WhatsApp group were sent to comment on 128 articles prepared in Amharic, Oromo and English languages on the ABC page. The BBC. In his analysis of the comments given on the program broadcast on the first day, 49 texts sent to the members of the WhatsApp group were found to be comments 108 times.
The comments made on Facebook when the first part of the program was broadcast; It indicates that articles that appear to be prepared by other structures of the Prosperity Party are commented on several times.
When this program was aired, various Facebook accounts and pages repeatedly commented on the same article. One of these articles; “Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, who understands natural resources, is beautifying natural places and improving infrastructure, as well as building modern tourist accommodations.”
Different Facebook accounts have commented on this post at least 78 times. Other articles written in English have been commented on more than 100 times.
The Addis Ababa City Prosperity Office, especially the city government’s prosperity office, prepares and distributes articles, pictures and videos in the form of a campaign that praises the projects carried out by the city administration.
Commemorating Adwa’s victory, which was inaugurated in February, has been the subject of campaigns praising the project in the weeks leading up to the inauguration. In March, images criticizing people who oppose the demolition of buildings and houses in the Piazza area due to the development of road corridors being carried out by the city administration were distributed on Facebook in the form of a campaign.
“Mobs” are coordinated campaigns to control ideas circulating on social media; Dr. Yohannes Enyew, a researcher of Digital Human Rights Law at Australia’s Monash University, says that they will turn into “false or misleading activity”.
As Dr. Yohannes explains; The activities of pro-government accounts or bots “impersonating real citizens” have the effect of distorting voter opinion, especially during elections, and “challenging trust and decision-making.”
Beyond that, the activity of “flooding the social media”; The researcher explains that it is “a way to get people who write actively to leave the forum” without supporting the government.
Dr. John; “When such activities are created, it is said that ‘it may limit freedom of speech or it may suppress social discourse, discourse on social media’; Because it violates Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; According to international human rights law, we can recognize that such concerted deceptive activity is illegal,” he added. https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/17466442/embed?auto=1
“Hate speech” campaigns against critics and opponents
Building the image of the government or the party is not the only job of members of the Prosperity Party’s “media army”. The BBC has confirmed that members of the ‘media army’ will comment on the articles prepared and given to them on Facebook pages that have shared articles against the government.
One of the individuals whose Facebook post was commented on in this manner is the former Minister of Peace, Mr. Taye Dendea. Mr. Taye, who has been in prison for the past four months; December 1/2016 They shared an article criticizing and accusing Prime Minister Abiy in strong words, along with a letter announcing his resignation.
The former Minister of Peace, Detta, who accused the Prime Minister of being a “barbarian playing with human blood”; They were arrested the night they shared the post.
That night, the WhatsApp group’s administrator sent 23 messages to its members criticizing and insulting Taye. A link to Mr. Taye’s Facebook post was also attached when these articles were sent, which also referred to the former Ministry of Peace as a “thug”.
Admin of the group; “All the leadership, members, supporters and the media army should give it an organized opinion. “Sharing or liking [doing] is absolutely forbidden.”
Mr. Taye’s post has been commented on more than 14,600 times. In a survey conducted by the BBC, identifying about five thousand of them; He confirmed that the posts sent on the WhatsApp group were commented on Mr. Taye’s Facebook post at least 365 times.https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/17466671/embed?auto=1
The leaders of the People’s Freedom Party of Tigray (TPLF) are among those who have been campaigned by the Prosperity Party’s ‘media army’. In January, when the TPLF was conducting its months-long review, pictures were sent on the WhatsApp group stating that the chairman of the party, Dr. Debretzion Gebremichael, and the executive member, Fitlework Gebrejhowa, were “obstacle” to the implementation of the Pretoria agreement.
Of the 20 composite images sent to the group members; There is an image that he calls Dr. Debretzion and other Tigray officials, whom he refers to as “people’s viruses”. The BBC confirmed that the image had been shared 330 times on Facebook.
At the end of October, when Adolom Gebrewahd, who was the advisor to the president of the Tigray Interim Administration as the deputy head of government, Ato Emanuel Asefa, who was the Chief Cabinet Secretariat, and other officials resigned from office, images with the same content were sent on the WhatsApp group.
The BBC. One of these 20 pictures that he confirmed to have been posted on Facebook is one that calls Mr. Adel Gebrewahd “the cancer of Tigray”.
Dr. Yohannes, a digital human rights law researcher, says that the use of such expressions can be considered as “hate speech” when it comes to those who are opposed to the government.
Prime Minister’s Cabinet; In 2012, he issued a decree to “prevent and control hate speech and the spread of false information”. has been. It is stated in the proclamation that this law was enacted “due to the need to prohibit and control the spread of hateful and false speech by law.”
The decree that stipulates that hate speech spread on social media will result in criminal liability; He stated that people found doing this will be punished with simple imprisonment up to three years.
Dr. Yohannes who raises this legal liability; “However, when the government is guilty, it is very difficult to enforce this law. The alternative is called content correction,” he said, explaining the importance of the action taken by the social media company.
In a response to the BBC, the Prosperity Party’s headquarters called it “absolutely unacceptable expression” that party members had “distributed articles and images that could be considered false information and hate speech.”
Spreading false information and hate speech, “There is no reason why we as a party or as a government should not be able to carry out the issue that we are fighting so hard and are victims of every day,” he said, stating that he is not involved in this type of activity.
The party responded by saying, “This category is unacceptable and does not express the party’s ideals and activities.” He recalled that the House of People’s Representatives, where he holds the majority of seats, approved a decree that “enables the prevention of hate speech and false information”.
Party Headquarters; “We have been making corrections when ‘false information’ and ‘hate speech’ even minor errors occur, and we would like to state that we will take the necessary corrective action against the perpetrators if we find evidence of similar actions,” he said.
The action taken by Meta
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, calls misleading social media activities in the form of campaigns “coordinated inauthentic behavior.”
Based on the evidence found by the BBC in its investigation into the prosperity media army, the company confirmed the existence of a concerted false behavior in its request to Meta; He stated that he had taken action.
In an emailed response to the BBC, Meta said; He announced that he had received “numerous positive comments” on the Facebook posts of the “Government of Ethiopia” using “fake accounts”. The company stated that this action violates Methane’s Fraud Policy; As a result, he mentioned in his response that he had removed “a cluster of accounts and pages”.
A meta spokesperson; “We have removed a collection of accounts and pages that violated our fraudulent behavior policy. Some [accounts and pages] have been identified and deleted by our automated system. [The account and pages] engaged in misleading and spammy activity by commenting on the [spread] posts of the Ethiopian government to artificially increase their reach,” he said in an email response to the BBC.
The company did not say how many Facebook accounts and pages it has removed for such policy violations. When the BBC made inquiries to the company, the BBC found that the Facebook accounts it had identified had been removed on the day of the email response and days before.
The BBC’s monitoring of around 200 accounts shows that most of the Facebook accounts and pages used by the Prosperity Party’s media army to spread the party’s propaganda have the same behavior. Most of the accounts used for this purpose do not have the kind of personal photos or posts that regular Facebook users have.
Among the most commonly used profile pictures on these accounts are photos of Prime Minister Abiy and Addis Ababa Mayor Adanech. The photos of the “mega projects” built by the prime minister’s government, as well as pictures of the Prosperity Party and the defense army, are also displayed on the profile picture of the accounts. The BBC noted that some accounts used photographs of female artists and models.
A few members of the ‘media army’ of the Oromia region’s Prosperity Party office use a remarkably similar image for their accounts. The BBC observed that the accounts using the same image are members of a structure under the same zone. Among these regional government structures are West RC and East Bale zones. The image used by the members of the Jimma Zone Media Army is “Jima Zone Social Media Digital Army” with text written in Aramaic and English languages.
This is not the first time Facebook owner Meta has taken action against such Facebook pages linked to the Ethiopian government. In 2013, when the Tigray war started. It said 62 Facebook accounts, 49 pages and 26 groups that violated the company’s integrated anti-misconduct policy were removed.
Meta announced in a statement issued in June 2013 that among the messages shared by the blocked accounts, pages and groups, there are those regarding “Prosperity Party and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed”. Meta’s investigation revealed that the individuals behind this act had “connections” with the Information Network Security Administration (INSA).
This type of activity is what Meta calls “coordinated inauthentic behavior”. Digital human rights law researcher Dr. Yohannes says that seeing governments use it is not a new issue. They state that governments engage in this activity to control society, especially in times of political and security crisis.
Oxford University researchers, September 2012. In their research on propaganda distributed in a coordinated manner on social networking sites, they confirmed that misleading political campaigns are conducted in at least 70 countries. One of the countries mentioned in the study was Ethiopia.
The study explored the period before the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power; According to the study, it is a government institution that coordinates the campaigns on Facebook using fake pages. The research shows that the sites are being used to support the government and attack the opposition.
Allowances are considered employee ‘media army’ members
A source who has worked in communications at federal government institutions for more than 15 years; The idea of spreading government propaganda on Facebook in the form of a campaign by using party members was a matter that was prepared at the planning level by the former ruler, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in the last years of his power, he told the BBC.
In 2008, when protests against the government became stronger; He recalled that the former Office of Government Communication had provided training to government communication experts. However, the source explained that the four parties that formed the EPRDF could not implement the plan as planned due to the differences in their positions regarding the protests.
The source said that the current implementation of the Facebook campaign is similar to the plan that was developed eight years ago; He also mentioned that they believe that the Prosperity Party and government leaders have “succeeded” in implementing the plan that was prepared at the time.
Even after the prime minister’s government came to power and the establishment of the Baltseghana Party, it was not just a plan to spread propaganda using the media army. Trainings on social media usage and algorithms are still provided by different structures of the Prosperity Party.
One of the focus of these trainings given to party members and communication experts is to “distribute information to the public” regarding “our development projects in the country”.
In its response to the BBC, the headquarters of the Prosperity Party mentioned that it will provide training to its leaders and members on “the nature and benefits of social media, how to use the applications and how to convey ideas to the masses.”
The party “He believes that this is something that every political party in any part of the world can and should do,” he said, explaining that this type of issue is a common practice.
Efforts to increase followers and participants on government and party Facebook pages; Two office sources in Addis Ababa city have told the BBC that they have hired people who like, comment and share.
Addis Ababa City Administration Youth and Sports Bureau and Public Service and Human Resource Development Bureau are mentioned as trying to increase the participation of their Facebook page. The BBC’s data analysis of Facebook posts by two offices is similar to data obtained from sources.
The Youth and Sports Office of Addis Ababa City Administration, to which the BBC submitted a question regarding this issue; He denied that “there are individuals who are hired and paid” to participate on the office’s Facebook page.
Mehari Temesgen, director of public relations of the bureau, told the BBC that the bureau will provide training to young people regarding the use of social media. Individuals who have taken this training have expressed their participation on the office’s page. https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/17466874/embed?auto=1
Mr. Mehari; “We provide various trainings for young people and sports families who work with our office to follow the institution’s page and make their own likes and comments on the information released. “Some of the people who took the training may be [commenting] frequently.”
The head of the Public Service and Human Resource Development Bureau, Dr. Taswe Gebre, who was asked the same question, said that he had “no information” about the existence of this type of activity. The official promised to look into the matter and provide information, but did not return repeated phone calls from the BBC.
According to the BBC’s sources, the 11 individuals “recruited” to carry out this task are participating on the Facebook pages of both offices. A source close to the matter stated that the individuals are members of the Prosperity Party and perform regular work as communication experts in districts and sub-cities.
The source added: “One person has up to eight or ten Facebook accounts. They follow our page on the day. Comment, when you share, you read what is written and based on it, you give a comment that supports the work of the office. It means they will take our post and share it on their ten pages. The individuals will be paid “in the form of an allowance” for their work, the sources said.
The BBC. According to the data obtained using Facebook’s content tracker “Crowd Tangle”, the number of accounts and pages participating in the posts of the two offices’ pages has increased significantly since November and December. This period coincides with the time sources said the recruitment of the individuals took place.
While the same accounts usually comment on the pages’ posts, the BBC has confirmed that the same accounts are participating on both bureaus’ pages. The BBC has identified 16 accounts and pages linked to two individuals involved in this activity.
