October week one summary

The claim of Ethiopian forces beheading civilians in Tigray

On Oct 6, 2022, a Facebook post appeared sharing a graphic image that shows a beheaded face of a man with a claim that the person was slaughtered recently by the Ethiopian allied forces in a place called Tselimoy, in western Tigray after a battle between TPLF forces and the Ethiopian military a month ago.

The image-backed post emerged after TPLF media outlets reported that Ethiopia and Amhara allied that forces committed atrocities in the area.

However, it is confirmed that the image doesn’t support the claim. The image is old and was taken from a post made on a Nigerian internet-based forum called Nairaland on Nov 23, 2020. Thus, the post is rated FALSE.

Addictive drugs allegedly seized from TPLF fighters

On Oct 4, 2022, a Facebook post appeared sharing three images claiming that the pictures show addictive drugs recently seized from TPLF fighters in Kobo town of Amhara regional state. The post was viral and was shared over fifty times.

The images were also circulating and posted by other Facebook accounts.

The post came out days later after the TPLF forces announced that their forces recently retreated and withdrew from some parts of the Amhara regional state.

However, two of the three images don’t support the claim. Therefore, the post was rated Partly False.

The first image was cropped from an image shared on Facebook on Aug 8, 2022, by the Fana Broadcasting Corporation with a description that drug dealers were captured in Gondar city.

HaqCheck could not find the second image.

The third image was published for the first time on Aug 18, 2020, on Facebook by a state media outlet with a news story that dealers who were smuggling addictive drugs were arrested in Addis Ababa.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post as Partly False.

TPLF forces acquiring Javelin anti-tank missile

A Twitter post appeared sharing an image claiming that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) recently acquired a Javelin anti-tank missile before the third round of fighting with the Ethiopian government started.

The tweet also stated that the recent claim by the TPLF that it destroyed 16 enemy tanks might be factual as far as it acquired the javelin anti-tank missile.

The claim came after the TPLF  claimed that they destroyed many enemy military equipment including three T-72 tanks, 16 tanks, and thousands of light and heavy firearms.

However, HaqCheck looked into the image and confirmed that the picture doesn’t prove the claim.

The image was taken from another old publication on a news site in November 2011 along with a news story that the French army ordered a new Javelin anti-tank missile kit to be integrated into VAB [Vehicule de l’Avant Blinde, a French military vehicle] armored vehicle.

Ethiopia transporting air force commandos From Debre Zeit to Asmara

A Facebook page with more than 700 thousand followers shared a 25 Second video on Oct 5, 2022, captioned, “Please have a look at this video showing how the Abiy regime [Federal Government] is sending its airforce commandos from Debre Zeit air force base to Asmara[Eritrea], it is not fair to deploy soldiers while talking about peace. Whatsoever,  the Army of TDF [Tigray Defense Forces] will not be inattentive.” 

HaqCheck used keywords to find the original 4-minute and 05 second-long video previously posted on Aug 29, 2022. The video was posted on a Facebook page with more than nine thousand followers captioned, “The FDRE national airforce training, watch the video”. The video has more than 500 views.

HaqCheck found the same video footage on both videos.

Given its findings that identified the real source of the footage, HaqCheck confirmed that the video was old and was shared in a different context a year before. The post was rated False.

Recommendations

We recommend social media influencers be responsible and avoid being the agents of false information dissemination and that content creators abstain from intentionally or unintentionally circulating such information. Social media users are urged to be skeptical of controversial information and try to cross-check it. They should try to figure out the authenticity and the original source of the provided information.

HaqCheck recommends the government and other entities offer timely updates regarding issues that matter to the public. The government should ensure the right of citizens and the media to access to information.

September monthly analysis

The month of September was characterized by higher false information dissemination trends related to the armed conflict between the TPLF and the Ethiopian government.

Here are the trends of disinformation traced during the month.

All contents are related to the armed conflict

All the false claims debunked by HaqCheck during the month of September were related to the armed conflict in the northern parts of the country.

Unlike the previous month, there was no diversification regarding the content of the false posts. Non-conflict-related false claims appeared during the month of August. HaqCheck debunked social media posts that are related to famine and drought in the country.

However, during September, posts other than the armed conflict were not much observed.

Another trend observed during the month was that all the false claims debunked by HaqCheck were related specifically to the war between the TPLF and the Ethiopian government.

Three main issues dominating false content claims

HaqCheck observed that the overwhelming majority of the false claims debunked are of three issues; false images and videos about Ethiopian aerial strikes in Tigray/ TPLF forces, claims regarding alleged TPLF/ Ethiopian POW, and weapons allegedly seized or destroyed

For instance, a Facebook post appeared on Aug 31, 2022, claiming that the Ethiopian government conducted an aerial strike in Mekelle in the middle of the night using drones. It presented two images as proof. The post also alleged that Ayder Hospital was also bombarded during the drone attack. The post was shared close to one thousand times.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the images don’t show the alleged recent aerial bombardment in Mekelle. The first image is from Syria and was taken on Oct 18, 2014. This image was published by the VOA.

Another post appeared on Twitter on Sep 13, 2022, tweeting an image claiming Ethiopian drones attacked Mekelle and that one key leader of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was executed. The tweet had been retweeted 703 times at the time this article was published.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show a recent drone attack during the ongoing war. The image is taken from a YouTube video titled, Netherlands Apache strike in Afghanistan. This video was uploaded on March 2, 2008. 

Secondly, among the prominent disinformation social media publications are false claims regarding alleged TPLF or Ethiopian prisoners of war captured during the war.

A viral video was shared on Twitter on Sep 13, 2022, claiming that the footage shows Ethiopian prisoners of war surrendered to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces during the recently resumed fighting.

The video was shared close to 600 times on Twitter and was watched by over 37 thousand users on the same platform.

However, the video is confirmed not to show Ethiopian prisoners of war during the recently resumed fighting between the federal government and the TPLF forces.

The video was published on Facebook by the Voice of America Amharic on May 19, 2022, in a news report stating that TPLF announced to release of 4208 POWs belonging to the ENDF.

The third issue was regarding weapons allegedly seized or destroyed in the resumed fighting.

In this context a claim was made on Facebook on Sep 14, 2022, that two tanks were destroyed by an airstrike in Alamata which were heading to Kobo town.

However, HaqCheck found out that the image was first published over the Internet on Mar 6, 2022, on a website called suspilen.media which mostly publishes its articles in the Ukrainian language.

Elements of propaganda

HaqCheck observed that the false social media posts debunked during the month of September had elements of propaganda.

Some of them are presented below.

Ethiopian allied forces beheaded civilians in Tigray

 On Oct 6, 2022, a Facebook post appeared sharing a graphic image that shows a beheaded face of a man with a claim that the person was slaughtered recently by the Ethiopian allied forces in a place called Tselimoy, in western Tigray after a confrontation between TPLF forces and the Ethiopian military a month ago.

The claim emerged following a battle between the Ethiopian federal government-led forces and TPLF forces in a place called Tselimoy was reported. After that, TPLF media outlets reported that Ethiopia and Amhara allied forces committed atrocities in the area. 

However, the image doesn’t support the claim. The image is old and was taken from a post made on a Nigerian internet-based forum called Nairaland on Nov 23, 2020. Thus, the post is rated FALSE.

Ethiopia and Eritrea jointly launching attacks in Tigray via Adyabo

Social media posts backed by false images appeared after the TPLF announced that Ethiopia and Eritrea were jointly launching attacks against its positions. An image posted on Facebook on Sep 1, 2022, claimed that the Ethiopian and Eritrean forces jointly launched fresh attacks against the TPLF-led forces via northwestern Tigray, Adyabo.

However, Haqcheck looked into the image and confirmed that the image doesn’t prove the claim.

The image was first published on a website nine months ago on Dec 20, 2021, along with an article regarding the ongoing war in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia seized TPLF fighters’ addictive drugs at a battleground

On Oct 4, 2022, a Facebook post appeared sharing three images claiming that the pictures show addictive drugs recently seized from TPLF fighters in Kobo town of Amhara regional state. The post was viral and was shared over fifty times.

The images were also circulating and posted by other Facebook accounts.

However it is learned that two of the three images don’t support the claim.

The first image was cropped from an image shared on Facebook on Aug 8, 2022, by Fana Broadcasting Corporation with a description that drug dealers were captured in Gondar city.

The third image was published for the first time on Aug 18, 2020, on Facebook by a state media outlet with a news story that drug dealers who were smuggling addictive drugs were arrested in Addis Ababa.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post as Partly False. 

Recommendations

HaqCheck recommends social media users to be skeptical and look for additional sources for controversial information they encounter. They should also look for fact-checks on the contested issues.

We recommend that the belligerents in the war should be responsible and avoid contaminating public life through disinformation campaigns. They should give factual updates on the war to reduce the impact of disinformation.

We urge the government and other bodies to ensure the right of citizens and the media to an open and secure access to information.

September week four summary

Deployment of Eritrean soldiers into Tigray

One of the social media posts debunked by HaqCheck last week was a Facebook post sharing an image with a claim that soldiers of Eritrean, Ethiopian, and Amhara forces are transported to launch attacks via the Tekeze river up to northeastern areas of Tigray.

However, Haqcheck looked into the image and confirmed that the image doesn’t prove the claim.

The image was first posted one year ago on Sep 16, 2021. The post was rated False due to the fact that it used an inaccurate image.

A fighting between Ethiopian and TPLF armed units led by Sudanese generals

A Facebook post appeared on Sep 19 sharing four images claiming that the Ethiopian army along with the Amhara Special Police Forces and militia destroyed TPLF armed units that tried to launch attacks from Sudan via Humera and Metema. The claim also added that the TPLF armed units were led by Sudanese generals.

Nonetheless, the images presented in the post are found to be old and don’t support the claim.

The first image was shared along with three other pictures on Facebook on Jan 2, 2021, with a description that TPLF forces using heavy artillery destroyed military vehicles in Eritrea.

The second image was published on Facebook on Jul 23, 2021 claiming that TPLF forces took control of Kobo town.

The third picture was published on a website in Feb 21, 2014, and describes that picture shows Thailand’s battle tanks.

The fourth image was found on a YouTube video published on Jul 31, 2021, and was used as a thumbnail. Therefore, the post was rated False.

A video on the situation of Adi Arkay town

A video regarding the current status of the town of Adi Arkay was shared on social media with different claims.

As the fighting between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF resumed in the end of last month, there have been claims on social media regarding the advance and military achievements of the belligerents.

There was a social media claim that TPLF forces took control of the town of Adi Arkay recently.

A few days later a video came out with a claim that TPLF forces didn’t seize the town of Adi Arkay.

The next day, the same video was posted with the claim that it shows TPLF forces took control of the place.

HaqCheck could not verify if the video was old or new, and where and who recorded it. However, the person shown in the video is heard of speaking in Amharic that the particular place was not yet controlled by the TPLF forces.

Recommendations

HaqCheck urges the government to ensure and guarantee full access to information by giving timely updates regarding ongoing issues of public affairs.

Social media users should not easily be misled. They should first cross-check the information at hand before they believe it and share it with others.

We recommend social media content creators be responsible and refrain from circulating false information.

September week three summary

Dissemination of false disinformation particularly on social media platforms was relatively intense in the past week. This is supposed to be mainly due to the resumption of conflict between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian government.

Amid the resumption of the fighting between the belligerents, reports of battles and aerial strikes appeared on social media and news sites. Many false images and videos circulated on social media supporting claims related to the fresh fighting.

In this summary are covered social media disinformation posts debunked by HaqCheck during the third week of September 2022.

False images of alleged prisoners of war

A Facebook page with 96 thousand followers posted an image on Sep 9, 2022, claiming that Amhara militants were captured in the ongoing war in the western Tigray region, Dedebit. The post was shared ten times.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show recent prisoners of war in the ongoing war. The image was first posted several months ago on Oct 16, 2021, along with an article regarding the ongoing war in Ethiopia.

Another Facebook post shared six images claiming that the pictures show drone attacks in Tigray.

HaqCheck found out that the five pictures of the images shared to support the claim were old and don’t show drone attacks in Tigray during the recently resumed fighting. 

The first image was shared on Jul 14, 2016, on Facebook for the first time with a claim that it shows a car belonging to an official of the then EPRDF regime set on fire by the protesting youth of Debark.

The second image was published on a website on Oct 4, 2016, and shows protestors destroying trucks and machinery belonging to the Dangote Cement Factory located in Ada Berga town, Oromia region.

The third picture was published on a news site on Dec 21, 2021, along with a news article that drone attacks in Tigray hit a bus and marketplace at the time.

HaqCheck did not find the fourth image that accompanies the claim on Facebook.

The fifth and sixth images were shared on Facebook on Oct 9, 2021, with a claim that the TPLF forces had sustained drone attacks by the Ethiopian government.

Thus, the post was rated Partly False.

A false image of an alleged drone strike

A Twitter account posted an image claiming that the picture shows an Ethiopian drone attacking Mekelle.

The post appeared after reports of aerial strikes by the Ethiopian government in Mekelle emerged.

However; haqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show recent drone attacks during the ongoing war. The image was first posted more than a decade ago on Mar 2, 2008, titled Netherlands Apache strike in Afghanistan.

A false video of alleged recent prisoners of war

A viral video was shared on Twitter on Sep 13, 2022, claiming that it shows Ethiopian prisoners of war surrendered to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces during the resumed fighting.

The video was shared close to 700 times on Twitter and was watched by over 37 thousand users on the same platform.

The video-supported claim appeared on Twitter after the TPLF claimed that it destroyed many divisions of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) and the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) that tried to advance into territories currently held by TPLF forces.

However, the video is found to be old and doesn’t show Ethiopian POWs captured by TPLF forces during the recently resumed fighting.

The video was published previously on Facebook by the Voice of America Amharic on May 19, 2022, in a news report that TPLF announced to release of 4208 POWs belonging to the ENDF.

A false image claimed to support the report of mobilization of forces by the Eritrean government

A Twitter account with more than 7 thousand followers shared a post on  Sep 15, 2022, captioned, “Breaking! The despotic regime of Eritrea has ordered civilian workers under 55 years of age including banking professionals to military duty.”

The image was also shared on different Twitter accounts with a claim that the Eritrean government is forcing elders to join the Army.

HaqCheck crosschecked the image and found it previously shared on a website called Asmarino.com on July 03, 2016.

A false image of aerial bombardment in Mekelle

On Sep 15, 2022, a tweet appeared sharing an image to support a claim that the Ethiopian government recently bombarded Mekelle using drones.

HaqCheck found out that the image posted to support the claim was old and doesn’t show drone attacks in Mekelle during the recently resumed fighting.

The image was first posted on Dec 04, 2020, by VOA Afaan Oromoo one month after the war broke out between the TPLF and the Ethiopian government.

Recommendations

HaqCheck recommends social media users be skeptical and avoid sharing posts that are not verified. They should look for additional sources for controversial information they encounter before they share or take in the information on social media.

HaqCheck urges social media content creators to be responsible and avoid being the agents of the dissemination of disinformation.

The government and other concerned entities are recommended to guarantee full access to information and updates regarding ongoing matters.

Weekly summary: September week two

The social media landscape and the trend of information dissemination was dominated by false claims that are of the recent alleged resumption of fighting in the northern parts of the country.

All the claims that were fact-checked during the week were related to the resumption of fighting between the TPLF and the Ethiopian government.

In this summary are included the claims that were debunked by HaqCheck last week.

Ethiopian and Eritrean joint attack via Adyabo

An image posted on Facebook on Sep 1, 2022, claimed that the Ethiopian and Eritrean forces jointly launched fresh attacks against the TPLF-led forces via northwestern Tigray, Adyabo.

On Aug 16, 2022, TPLF announced that the federal government already violated the cessation of hostilities jointly declared at the end of March. The TPLF said that the armed forces of the federal government fired artillery and attacked its forces.

It further announced that the main intention of the attacks by the federal government was to launch an integrated attack on the western front.

However, Haqcheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show  Ethiopian and Eritrean troops recently launching fresh attacks through northwestern Tigray, Adiyabo. The image is found to be old, posted nine months ago on Dec 20, 2021.

The image was first published on a website nine months ago on Dec 20, 2021, along with an article regarding the ongoing war in Ethiopia.

Recently seized weapons in Raya Front

A Facebook page with more than 120 thousand followers shared a post on Sep 3, 2022, captioned “430 Kalashnikov and other weapons were captured at Raya front….”. 

However, the images are found to be old and were first published in a news video on Amhara Media Corporations’ Youtube channel published on Feb 2, 2022.

The video also shows surrendered members of the claimed rebel group. Therefore, HaqCheck inspected the images and rendered the images used to support the claim False.

False image of an alleged air strike in Mekelle

On Aug 31, 2022, a Facebook post claimed that the Ethiopian government conducted an aerial strike in Mekelle in the middle of the night using drones. It presented two images as proof. The post also alleged that Ayder Hospital was also bombarded during the drone attack. The post was shared close to one thousand times.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the images don’t show the alleged recent aerial bombardment in Mekelle.

The first image is from Syria and was taken on Oct 18, 2014. This image was published by the VOA.

The second image which pictures a woman, a running person, the Mekelle Martyrs’ memorial monument, and an airplane is found to be photoshopped. Thus, HaqCheck rated the post False.

False footage of a drone strike on TPLF leaders

A video was shared on Facebook and YouTube with a claim that the footage shows Ethiopian drone strikes on the leaders of the TPLF.

However, the footage is not of ongoing fighting between the belligerents in Ethiopia and doesn’t show the Ethiopian army undergoing a drone strike on the TPLF leaders.

The footage was taken from a video published on YouTube allegedly showing Turkish drones targeting enemy forces during the war of Nagorno Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 20202. The video was posted on YouTube on Apr 7, 2021.

False footage of an alleged ongoing fighting

A video was posted on Facebook on Sept 7, 2022, with a claim that there was active fighting between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF on three fronts recently. The post further asserted that the Ethiopian government captured thousands of TPLF troops and seized territories previously taken by TPLF forces. The video includes footage of a military operation.

However, the footage that shows a military operation doesn’t show a fighting scene in Ethiopia. The footage was taken from a video published on YouTube on Jun 15, 2017, and allegedly shows a NATO military drill in Romania.

Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post False due to its usage of inaccurate video.

Recommendations

HaqCheck recommends social media users be skeptical and avoid sharing posts that are not verified. They should look for further information regarding the matter before they share or take in the information on social media.

Social media content creators are the major agents behind false information dissemination across social media platforms. They are urged to be responsible and refrain from disseminating false information.

We recommend the government and other concerned entities give timely updates regarding ongoing issues as one means of reducing mass disinformation. They should also ensure access to information for the media and the wider public.

September week one summary

Airstrike in Mekelle

One of the claims HaqCheck fact-checked last week was a Facebook post that reported that the Ethiopian government conducted an aerial strike in Mekelle in the middle of the night using drones. It posted two images to support the claim and alleged that Ayder Hospital was also bombarded during the drone attack.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the images do not show a recent aerial bombardment in Mekelle.

The post came out amid the resumption of fighting between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front ( TPLF) and the Ethiopian government. On Aug 31, 2022, TPLF claimed that there was a drone attack in the middle of that night in Mekelle.

The first image of the Facebook post is found to be from Syria and was taken on Oct 18, 2014. This image was published by the VOA.

The second image which pictures a woman, a running person, the Mekelle Martyrs’ memorial monument, and an airplane is learned to be photoshopped.

A plane claimed to be shot down while transporting weapons for TPLF

After the Ethiopian government announced that it shot down a plane that entered the Ethiopian airspace carrying weapons to TPLF via Sudan, many false images with the same claim appeared.

Among these posts with false images were two Facebook posts that used two images.

The first image was shared by a Facebook page with a Tigrinya and English caption stating the Ethiopian Air Force shot down an airplane entering the Ethiopian airspace from Sudan loaded with arms for TPLF.

The second was shared on a Facebook account with a claim that Ethiopia downed a place that belonged to the country’s historical enemies transporting weapons to the TPLF through Sudan.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the images it came across from the two Facebook posts don’t show the alleged plane shot down by Ethiopian Air Force when it intruded the Ethiopian airspace from Sudan to transport weapons to Tigray for TPLF forces.

The first image was found in a news story that reported a plane crashed in the Amra Valley of the state of Arizona in the US in March 2021. The image was published on the website with a description that the image shows the crushed plane and the picture was taken by the Pima County law enforcement agency.

The second image was shared on Twitter on May 4, 2020, with a claim that the image shows an Uzbekistan Mig-29 aircraft.

Hence HaqCheck refuted the images used to support the claim as FALSE. 

Ethiopian and Eritrean forces launching attacks on TPLF via Adyabo

HaqCheck debunked an image-backed post on Facebook with a claim that the Ethiopian and Eritrean forces jointly launched fresh attacks against the TPLF-led forces via northwestern Tigray, Adyabo. 

However, Haqcheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show  Ethiopian and Eritrean troops recently launching fresh attacks through northwestern Tigray, Adiyabo. 

The image is found to be old posted on Dec 20, 2021. The image was published on a website along with an article regarding the ongoing war in Ethiopia making it inaccurate with the supposed claim. 

Recommendations

We recommend social media users be continuous of potentially false and misleading information. They should look for original sources of the information and additional information to cross-check controversial posts.

Social media content creators are urged to be responsible and refrain from disseminating false information.

The government and concerned authorities should also widen and secure full access to information for the media and for the wider public. They should provide timely and sufficient information.

August monthly analysis

HaqCheck looked into the disinformation circulation trend during the month of August.

The trend was almost the same for the past few months. However, during the month of August, the trend followed a different path around the end of the month. August was characterized by more false posts and controversies than in the preceding months.

The major factor that caused many false posts and controversies was the resumption of war between the TPLF and the Ethiopian federal government.

The resumption of war

The war between the government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) resumed at the end of the month. On Aug 16, 2022, the TPLF announced that the federal government violated the cessation of hostilities declared and jointly adopted at the end of March.

The war erupted again after the TPLF stated that the federal government had launched attacks against its armed forces in the southern Tigray areas on the early morning of Aug 24, 2022.

Thereafter, many false image-backed posts emerged. HaqCheck fact-checked many claims that are related to the recently resumed war.

Some of the claims related to the war and debunked by HaqCheck are reviewed in this monthly summary.

False images of a plane allegedly shot down by Ethiopia while transporting weapons for the TPLF

The Ethiopian government claimed that it shot down a plane that entered the Ethiopian airspace carrying weapons to TPLF via Sudan. Instantly, Multiple images with the claim that a plane was shot down by Ethiopia when transporting weapons to the TPLF via Sudan were shared on social media.

These images were shared on social media platforms mainly on Facebook. They were shared by many accounts and pages.

HaqCheck cross-checked three images and confirmed that they don’t show a plane shot down by the Ethiopian Air Force when transporting weapons to the TPLF from Sudan trespassing the country’s airspace.

The first image was shared by a Facebook page with a Tigrinya and English caption stating the Ethiopian Air Force shot down an airplane entering the Ethiopian airspace from Sudan loaded with arms for TPLF. The image was found in a news story that reported a plane crashed in the Amra Valley of the state of Arizona in the US in March 2021. The image was published on the website with a description that the image shows the crushed plane and the picture was taken by the Pima County law enforcement agency.

The second was shared on a Facebook account with a claim that Ethiopia downed a place that belonged to the country’s historical enemies transporting weapons to the TPLF through Sudan. The image was shared on Twitter on May 4, 2020, with a claim that the image shows an Uzbekistan Mig-29 aircraft.

The third and the fourth images were also taken from other old publications and HaqCheck confirmed that they don’t show the alleged incident.

A false video of recently surrendered TPLF POWs

As the fighting between the TPLF and the federal government resumed, a number of claims emerged reporting that each side was capturing many prisoners of war. Among these is a video shared on social media that is claimed to show TPLF prisoners of war who surrendered recently.

The video was viral and was shared close to one thousand times.

However, the video is found to be old and doesn’t show TPLF prisoners of war who surrendered during the resumed fighting. The video was from months ago in Dec 2021 captured during the fighting between TPLF regional forces and federal government-led allied forces.

Incident-driven social information dissemination trend

Incidents continue to influence the trend of information circulation on social media. HaqCheck observed that disinformation in the Ethiopian media landscape is highly susceptible to events. The trend of disinformation and controversy swings according to incidents. Events such as war, conflict, violence, drought, and election highly influence the trend of false information dissemination, particularly on social media.

Some of the incidents that influenced social media information dissemination during the month of August were the following:

Famine and drought

The is an ongoing drought in the countries of the Horn of Africa especially in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya. The drought and other crises such as conflict have caused a dire shortage of food in the region.

International organizations have been warning of possible famine in the region due to the current periodical drought, conflict, and pandemic.

In this context, many social media false images were shared to allegedly show starved people or people dying out of hunger. HaqCheck debunked many such image-backed posts.

One of these claims was a Twitter post that shared three images claiming that the pictures show starved people in Oromia.

An image out of the three pictures is found to be old and doesn’t show the ongoing reality in the country. The image was taken from Uganda and was published to show starvation in that country. It was shared on a website in Jul 2022.

Another post that was debunked was an image-supported tweet sharing four pictures to support its claim that many Oromos are dying out of starvation.

However, three of the images were fetched from other sources and don’t depict the current drought and starvation in Ethiopia.

The first image was first shared on Facebook in May 2022 and the post stated that the image was taken in Mekelle.

The second image was taken from other old publications made in 2017 and 2018. The remaining image shows a famine in Sudan in 1993.

Elements of propaganda

As the war between the TPLF and the federal government of Ethiopia is ongoing, propaganda warfare had continued by the belligerents. Thus posts with elements of propaganda appeared in the past month.

One of the false claims that were disseminated as propaganda by the TPLF was that Ethiopia’s external debt stock skyrocketed since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power. The claim was made by the Dimtsi Weyane and Tigrai TV stations and on social media.

The information was presented in video and written content reporting that Ethiopia’s external debt dramatically increased from 28 billion dollars a few years ago to 56.6 billion dollars at the time being.

However, the claim was proven false by HaqCheck. According to the data analyzed by HaqCheck, Ethiopia’s external debt numerically stayed almost the same or with some fluctuation.

Diversified disinformation platforms

The major platforms for false information dissemination had been relatively diversified in August. For a long time, Facebook dominated being the fertile ground of false information circulation. It was the substantial landscape of disinformation particularly those of image-supported ones.

In the month, however, many other social media platforms have also become major fields for false information disseminators.

Telegram has become the major platform for circulating sensitive images and video-backed content. It is partly because there is little restriction on posting sensitive and graphic images and videos on Telegram. Many social media content creators were observed to invite their followers on their platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to go visit their Telegram channels for additional information, i.e., sensitive images and videos.

Twitter has also become a major platform for image-backed claims. HaqCheck found and debunked many false claims supported by false images that appeared on Twitter. As a showcase, a viral post published on Twitter shared an image alleged to show a plane that was recently shot down by the Ethiopian army while encroaching into the Ethiopian airspace to transport weapons for the TPLF.

The website was also somewhat one of the landscapes that enabled the dissemination of false information during the last month.

Recommendations

HaqCheck recommends the belligerents in the Tigray war be responsible and refrain from damaging propaganda content. They should respect the public and refrain from chronically disinforming the people on both sides.

We urge social media users to be skeptical and look for additional sources for controversial information they encounter. They should also look for fact-checks if already there regarding the issue at hand.

The government and other entities are urged to open up wider and secure access to information for the media and the public. They should avail timely and sufficing updates for the public.

Weekly summary: August week three

Claim of Ethiopia’s debt mounting from 28 to 56 billion USD

Tigrai Television, on July 22, 2022, claimed in a report published on its website that Ethiopia’s debt has dramatically increased since the coming of PM Abiy Ahmed to power in 2018. Citing a report by BBC Amharic on July 22, 2022, the media outlet claimed that Ethiopia’s total debt was 28 billion dollars in 2018 and now after four years, it has amounted to 56.6 billion dollars.

Dimtsi Weyane Television on Jul 26, 2022, claimed that Ethiopia’s debt stock has skyrocketed since PM Abiy came to power.

Tigrai Television again reported the same claim that Ethiopia’s debt soared from 28 billion dollars four years ago to 56 billion dollars in a video report made and released on YouTube on August 11, 2022.

The claim by Tigray Television and Dimtsi Weyane Television was based on a report published by the BBC Amharic on July 22, 2022. BBC Amharic in its article misleadingly said “according to the World Bank in 2020, Ethiopia’s debt was 30.36 billion dollars. But after two years now, Ethiopia’s external and domestic debt is 56.6 billion dollars.”

The statement by BBC Amharic is misleading because the figure “30.36 billion dollars” was only Ethiopia’s external debt stock.

The World Bank on its website has data regarding Ethiopia’s external debt stock from 1970 to 2020. The World Bank data indicates that Ethiopia’s debt in 2020 was 30.36 billion dollars.

According to the annual report for the 2020/21 fiscal year issued by the National Bank of Ethiopia, the country’s external debt was 29.5 billion dollars in July 2021.

As of March 31, 2022, Ethiopia’s total (external and domestic) debt was 56.5 billion dollars, according to a statistical bulletin issued by the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance in May 2022. Out of that, external debt amounts to 28.5 billion dollars.

Despite Ethiopia’s external debt has been increasing, the claim that it expanded from 28 billion dollars four years ago to 56 billion dollars currently is false.

False images of famine

Images were shared on Twitter along with a claim that the image shows victims of famine in Oromia currently.

However, most of the images were found not to be of an ongoing drought or famine in Oromia.

One of the images was shared on different Social media platforms to show the drought in the Oromia West Guji zone. 

The other image was posted on May 19, 2022, on a Facebook page with more than 57 thousand followers. The post claimed the image is from Mekele, Tigray. 

The third image was also shared on social media and websites in different descriptions at different times. 

The Fourth image was taken by a South African photojournalist in which he wins the Pulitzer award. The photo shows a starving child who collapsed on the ground and was struggling to get to a food center in Sudan in 1993.

HaqCheck rated the post Partly False due to its use of inaccurate images.

A false image of Getachew Reda

A viral image was circulating on social media with claims that the picture shows Getachew Reda, a senior TPLF member with an amputated leg.

However, the image is found to be false and was shared along with six other images on Facebook in August 2021 by the Ethiopian Press Agency. The image was shared by the news agency in a news reporting residents of the Kolfe Karanyo district contributed 75 million Birr to the Ethiopian army. HaqCheck rated the image FALSE.

Recommendations

HaqCheck recommends the government and other agencies provide timely information regarding any allegations. The government should ensure access to information.

We urge social media users to be skeptical and avoid misleading information. They should crosscheck unconfirmed claims and look for original sources of the information.

Media outlets should be ethical and refrain from making false claims and figures in their reportage.

Weekly summary: August week two

A person healed with traditional medicine

One of the false image-backed claims appeared last week was a claim that a person who had a serious leg injury was recently healed with traditional medicine. 

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show a person healed with traditional medicine and urges social media users not to be victims of fraud.

HaqCheck inspected the image and found out that the young man in the image is named Yetbarek who is surgically treated at CURE Ethiopia Children’s Hospital, Addis Ababa branch of Cure International, a network of many pediatric hospitals throughout the globe.

According to the information on the hospital website, Yetbarek had a bad fracture on his right leg under his knee after his tibia broke while playing football. He received surgical treatment from the hospital starting in June 2019. The hospital said that Yetbarek was successfully healed and shared many pictures of him.

The image was first posted on the hospital’s website in Feb 2020. Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post false.

False images of flooding in Sudan

HaqCheck observed false images being circulating across Facebook claiming that there was catastrophic flooding in Sudan recently. One Facebook post made on Aug 9, 2022 sharing images claimed that Sudan was experiencing an ongoing flooding and the construction of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will help it reducing the risk of flooding.

However, the images were false that dont show ongoing flooding in Sudan.

It was reported that the eastern and western parts of Sudan particularly the Darfur region have been struck with flooding.

However, the images that were shared by the Facebook page dont represent ongoing floding in Sudan.

For instance, one of the images put above shows flooding due to heavy rain in Turkey in 2018.

False numbers of a Red Cross fertilizer donation in Tigray

On Aug 8, 2022, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) donated fertilizers to conflict-affected farmers in the Tigray regional state.

Thenafter, false information regarding the amount of the fertlizers the Red Cross distributed to farmers came out. FBC (Fana Broadcasting Corporate) reported on its Facebook page that Red Cross distributed fertlizers to 120 thousand farmers in Tigray.

However, HaqCheck confirmed that the Red Cross society itself stated that it donated fertlizers to 20 thousand households which are amounted to120 thousand persons in total.

Hours later, the media outlet edited the post making it to 120 thousand individuals.

Recommendations

HaqCheck urges social media users to be skeptical of such posts and be careful of scams.

We recommend media outlets to be heedful of the figures they report. They should also make quick edits and notify their audience that the information given was inaccurate.

Socil media users are always urged to be careful of false and malicies information and claims across offline and online networking sites.

Weekly summary: August week one

The week was relatively calm compared to previous weeks. However, there was a circulation of false information on social media platforms.

Here are some of the false claims debunked by HaqCheck during the first week of August.

A false image of drought in Oromia

False images were circulating on social media in the week with a claim that many people have died of starvation in Oromia due to an ongoing lockdown by the government.

These three images were also used as a thumbnail of a video on a Youtube channel with more than 900 subscribers with a title that tells aid delivery to Borranna stopped despite an ongoing drought. However, HaqCheck learned that it was taken from  a video shared by EBC (Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation) on Jul 6, 2022, titled “the drought in Borena zone requires an immediate response by the Gov’t.”

One of the three images was found to be false and taken from an old publication. The first image that shows a dead body of an elderly woman was previously published on a website named The Kampala Report.

The article stated that the image shows people who died of starvation in the Karamoja region of Uganda.

Famine in the Horn of Africa

An article about ongoing extreme food shortages and famine in the Horn of African countries such as  South Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia was published on a website. An image that shows famine-stricken infants was published along with the article.

The article on the website indicates that Vicky Ford, Minister for Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean wrote a letter responding to the correspondence of David Alton, a member of the House of the Lords of the United Kingdom, to the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office highlighting the current food shortages in the Horn of Africa.

The response letter from the State Minister to Lord David Alton was then published on a website that claims to belong to the latter. An image that shows starved infants seemingly stretching their hands for food was attached along with the letter on the website.

In spite of the ongoing drought in the Horn of Africa, the image doesn’t actually show the situation in the region. The image was found published on Flicker, an American image and video sharing online platform, on 3 June 2009.

Recommendations

HaqCheck recommends social media users cross-check information and look for the original sources of controversial claims. They should also look for fact-checks if the claim at hand is already debunked by fact-checkers.

We urge social media content creators to be responsible and avoid disinforming the populace on the platforms. They should be careful of giving unconfirmed and potentially misleading information.

Concerned authorities should avail information to both the public and the media on timely matters. Full access to information should also be secured as a basic right.

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