Online safety & content laws in Ethiopia (2026)

Proclamation No. 958/2016, in force since 2016, criminalises online dissemination of obscene, threatening, or violence-inciting content and mandates that service providers notify INSA and police upon discovering illegal content; defamation online carries up to 10 years' imprisonment.

Proclamation No. 1185/2020 (in force March 2020) imposes platform liability: social media providers must remove flagged hate speech or disinformation within 24 hours of notification and maintain internal compliance policies; accounts with over 5,000 followers face up to three years' imprisonment for violations.

Media Proclamation No. 1238/2021 defines 'online media' as a licensed category regulated by the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA); April 2025 parliamentary amendments transferred key EMA oversight powers — including appointment of the Director-General — from the EMA board to the executive, raising press-freedom concerns.

Proclamation No. 1321/2024, adopted April 2024, designates the ECA as data protection authority, grants individuals rights of access, rectification, and erasure, mandates 72-hour breach notification, and imposes data-localisation requirements restricting cross-border transfers to countries with equivalent protections.

Ethiopia has imposed at least 30 internet shutdowns in a decade; the Amhara Region experienced a near-total blackout from August 2023 to July 2024 tied to armed conflict, while localised shutdowns in Oromia Region continued through 2025; a national five-month social media block (Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, YouTube, Instagram) ran from February to July 2023.

Freedom House's Freedom on the Net 2025 report rates Ethiopia 'Not Free,' scoring it among the lowest in Africa; no dedicated age-verification or child online protection statute exists as a standalone law — child-safety provisions are confined to Computer Crime Proclamation Article 3's prohibition on child sexual abuse material.