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Social Networks

Ethiopia To Build Local Rival To Facebook, Other Platforms (reuters.com) 31

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
Ethiopia has begun developing its own social media platform to rival Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, though it does not plan to block the global services, the state communications security agency said on Monday. From a report: Ethiopia has been engulfed since last year in an armed conflict pitting the federal government against the Tigray People's Liberation Front, which controls the Tigray region in the country's north. Supporters of both sides have waged a parallel war of words on social media.

The government wants its local platform to "replace" Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and Zoom, the director general of the Information Network Security Agency (INSA), Shumete Gizaw, said. Shumete accused Facebook of deleting posts and user accounts which he said were "disseminating the true reality about Ethiopia." International human rights groups have criticized the Ethiopian government for unexplained shutdowns to social media services including Facebook and WhatsApp in the past year. The government has not commented on those shutdowns.
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Ethiopia To Build Local Rival To Facebook, Other Platforms More

Ethiopia To Build Local Rival To Facebook, Other Platforms

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  • They could jumpstart the process using... (Score:3)

    by williamyf ( 227051 ) on Monday August 23, 2021 @02:15PM (#61721515)

    ... Venezuela's opensource "Red Patria":

    http://redpatria.cenditel.gob.... [cenditel.gob.ve]

    (I am a Venezuelan, by the way).

    The Idea being that the authentication and "facebooking" is done throug Nido (nest), and all the app equivalents are named after birds:

    Cardenalito being the twitter equivalent, Colibri (hummingbird in english) being their jabber client, Condor being the analytics, etc...

    Or, Ethiopia could see how this "local alternative apps in a third world country" thing went in Venezuela (a clusterFileSystemCHecK), and wisely decide to scrap the project, and use the resources to more productive endeavours elsewhere in the country...

    • Value (Score:3, Insightful)

      by JBMcB ( 73720 )

      When a government is given the choice of building something that will allow it to control the flow of information to it's citizens, or spending that money on other things, like improving water and power infrastructure or food programs, it will choose controlling information. From a government's perspective, it offers a much better return on investment.

      • When a government is given the choice of building something that will allow it to control the flow of information to it's citizens, or spending that money on other things, like improving water and power infrastructure or food programs, it will choose controlling information. From a government's perspective, it offers a much better return on investment.

        Here in venezuela, after they did the project, they do not control the flow of information of it's citizens, nor have food water, power or food.

        Again, mabe the ethiopians will learn, or, most likely, again like in venezuela, they know the initiative is doomed from the outset, but some croonie of the govt will get fatter by lining his/her pockets.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by shanen ( 462549 )

          Warning: You are about to be denounced (and dismissed) as a socialist communist Marxist Leninist Stalinist Castroist Guevaran Pol-Potted devil. You should have noticed there was no actual substantive response to your suggestion, not even my passing mention of Balkanization (in my longer reply tax-related below).

      • In Ethiopia, wouldn't the most needed and most popular website be: "https://www.findmeasandwich.com" ?

        ;)

        • In Ethiopia, wouldn't the most needed and most popular website be: "https://www.findmeasandwich.com" ?

          ;)

          There is a Sandwich in the south pole, waiting for a man manly enough to retreive it. Left there by a girl. Some of the Boko Haram guys in Ethiopia maybe is manly enough to retreive it.

          PS: Google for it, true storry

          • Boko Haram are in Nigeria.

            • Boko Haram are in Nigeria.

              True, they are in nigeria, but probably have a subsidiary in Ethiopia too ;-)

              But, sadly, the sandwich is ham and Cheese, so they will claim religious reasons for not being manly enough to there and claim it.

      • When a government is given the choice of building something that will allow it to control the flow of information to it's citizens, or spending that money on other things, like improving water and power infrastructure or food programs, it will choose controlling information.

        That depends entirely on the government. In actual democracies when political parties don't respond to what the electorate wants, the voters destroy the political party.
        In countries where the electoral system is controlled by the political parties this becomes much harder, and you wind up with things like Tigray People's Liberation Front.
        The US doesn't have an equivalent, because your political parties are really good at suppressing opposition.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shanen ( 462549 )

      Considering the venue, it was initially a bit hard to take you seriously. On the one hand, real competition (for Facebook) would is a good thing, but on the other hand, Balkanization of the Internet would probably be a bad thing. But focusing on your suggestion specifically, I doubt that Facebook feels threatened.

      Rather than increasing international competition and tension by this "Ethiopian" approach, I think it would be better to change the incentive structure against corporate cancers like Facebook. Spec

    • The Idea being that the authentication and "facebooking" is done throug Nido (nest), and all the app equivalents are named after birds: Cardenalito being the twitter equivalent, Colibri (hummingbird in english) being their jabber client, Condor being the analytics, etc...

      Do they also have the Crow to disseminate political propaganda and .... collect ... shiny stuff? And maybe the Vulture for megacorporation marketing?

      • Do they also have the Crow to disseminate political propaganda and .... collect ... shiny stuff? And maybe the Vulture for megacorporation marketing?

        Actually, they do. Follow the link and you will find two or three more birds, specifically aimed to political propaganda and Ratting out your neighbours type of crap

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by whitroth ( 9367 )

      Yes, but with any luck, and some patriotism by the programmers, maybe they can break faceplant's monopoly. All they'd have to do is write a website that WORKS CONSISTANTLY, and doesn't try to force some random algorithm on the way you want to use it.

      Oh, and maybe they'll test it first, before rolling out more crap on top of the older crap.

  • The broader the reach of social media, the more it dilutes its online culture and the more antisocial it seems to become. I'd be happier if every town had its own network. And every network within a country was loosely confederated.

    Of course there are also just really bad designs. Like Nextdoor letting my racist neighbors broadcast their frustrations. I'm not offended, I just feel embarrassed for them.

    • Im surprised they can get away with that on nextdoor. I used the word âretardedâ(TM) to describe how an idea sounded, and got locked out on my account. Some 'karen' had some axe to grind. Its not like I called her a douche drinking cunt or anything.

      • The racism that slips through is coded, like calling every Hispanic person a "Mexican". Or a girl's previously announced quinceañera party a "loud & drunk mariachi band".

  • They will build their own Facebook with Blackjack and hookers!

  • Rival? (Score:3)

    by dmomo ( 256005 ) on Monday August 23, 2021 @02:47PM (#61721685)

    If by "rival" you mean in the way that I rival Toyota by giving hay rides in my back... then sure. Rival. I guess.

    • Point taken. In the 80s Ethiopia was synonymous with starving people too poor to rub two nickels together for heat. Now the whole country is on social media? Or is it just 15 people with enough cash for a smartphone? Maybe their social media rival is group texting?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ac22 ( 7754550 )

        Ethiopia's smartphone penetration has been growing rapidly. Unfortunately I couldn't see the figures for 2019 onwards, but:

        2014 4% smartphone ownership
        2018 11.2% smartphone ownership (12 million people)

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

        Assuming continued growth, they are probably up to about 15-20 million smartphone users by now.

  • Normally I'd agree, put tech news on Slashdot. But in this case you have genocide going on that is much more news-worthy topic (real genocide by killing not the lesser genocide by birth control )

    The population of Tigray, nearly 80% of which depends on subsistence farming, is intentionally being made to starve for the second time in 40 years as a means to win a war.

    https://theconversation.com/th... [theconversation.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ac22 ( 7754550 )

      TFA talks about the Tigray conflict in the 2nd paragraph:

      Ethiopia has been engulfed since last year in an armed conflict pitting the federal government against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the Tigray region in the country's north.

      Supporters of both sides have waged a parallel war of words on social media.

      Surely this article raises awareness of the conflict amongst Slashdot readers?

      https://www.reuters.com/busine... [reuters.com]

  • I'm facebook now!

  • DespotBook

  • I guess.... (Score:3)

    by HotNeedleOfInquiry ( 598897 ) on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @01:01AM (#61723645)
    The don't have anything else on their plate.
  • It's like no one has ever heard of network effects. Probably because they haven't.

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