When Ethiopia was chosen by the United Nations to host the global celebrations for World Press Freedom Day in May 2019, it held a glitzy ceremony in the capital, Addis Ababa, attended by nearly 1,000 people.
The prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, had come to power a year earlier promising to end decades of repression and usher in an unprecedented era of freedom. Exiled news outlets were invited back to Ethiopia, journalists were released from prison and a host of new publications sprang up.
But any hopes of a lasting press freedom were dashed in 2020 with the outbreak of war between Abiy’s military forces and local rulers in Tigray, Ethiopia’s northernmost region. Amid mounting allegations of atrocities, the government restricted journalists’ access to Tigray and imposed a communication blackout, cutting off the region’s phone and internet.
