Ethiopia turns off internet nationwide as students sit exams

The country has closed its digital borders to prevent leaks during tests after papers were posted online by activists last year

The government appears to have taken the move to shut down internet access as a preventative measure. Photograph: Alamy

Alex HernWednesday 31 May 2017 15.02 BST

Ethiopia has shut off internet access to its citizens, according to reports from inside the country, apparently due leaked exam papers for the nation’s grade 10 examinations.
Outbound traffic from Ethiopia was shutdown around 4pm UK time on Tuesday, according to Google’s transparency report, which registered Ethiopian visits to the company’s sites plummeting over the evening. By Wednesday afternoon, access still had not been restored.

Moses Karanja @Mose_Karanja

Another Ethiopian Internet Shutdown During National Examshttps://moseskaranja.com/blog/ 

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Last year, activists leaked the papers for the country’s 12th grade national exams, calling for the postponement of the papers due to a school shutdown in the regional state of Oromia. Now, the government appears to have taken the move to shut down internet access as a preventative measure.

Mohammed Ademo

✔ @OPride

Ethiopia reportedly cutoff internet -for z 3rd time in 12 months -fearing activists will leak a scheduled national exam as they did last yr. https://twitter.com/zelalemkibret/status/869645556397862914 …

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It’s the third time in a year that Ethiopia’s digital borders have been slammed shut. In July 2016, the government blocked a significant amount of traffic after university entrance exams were posted online; another block followed in August of that year.
The move is a common one across many developing nations: Algeria also blocked access to social media, in June last year, in an attempt to fight cheating in school exams.

Source    –   The Guardian

 

 

 

Ethiopia Turns Off Internet to Avoid Exam Leaks, Guardian Says

by Nizar Manek

‎May‎ ‎31‎, ‎2017‎ ‎12‎:‎28‎ ‎PM‎ ‎EDT
Ethiopia switched off internet access in the country to prevent the leaking of information about school exams, the Guardian reported, without saying how it got the information.
There has been no outbound traffic since Tuesday, a London-based newspaper reported on its website, citing a transparency report by Google Inc.
Activists posted national papers online last year, demanding a postponement of the exams because of anti-government protests in Oromia state that were going on then, the Guardian reported. University exams were also posted online in July, it said.
Information Minister Negeri Lencho couldn’t immediately respond to text messages seeking comment and directed queries to his staff. Deputy government spokesman Zadig Abraha didn’t respond to 11 calls and two text messages seeking comment.
Staff at four hotels in the capital, Addis Ababa, said they’d informed guests that there would be no internet access until June 2 because of the school exams.
Source    –   Blooberg