Ethiopia

Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country with around 130 million inhabitants, operates one of the most complex state media architectures in the Horn of Africa. The federal media-regulatory framework rests on the Mass Media Proclamation No. 1238/2021, enacted as part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s post-2018 reform programme. The 2021 law decriminalised defamation and established the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) as the country’s media regulator. On 17 April 2025, the House of Peoples’ Representatives adopted significant amendments to the 2021 Proclamation: the EMA Director General is now nominated by the Prime Minister rather than appointed directly by Parliament; provisions requiring open and transparent board appointments, civil-society representation, and the prohibition on board members being members of political parties were repealed. The amendment was opposed by the Ethiopian Mass Media Professionals Association (EMMA), Ethiopian Media Women Association (EMWA), Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), and the International Press Institute, all of whom warned that the changes would weaken regulatory independence.

Federal state media is organised around three institutionally distinct enterprises, each accountable to the House of Peoples’ Representatives but subject to executive nomination of leadership: the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) for broadcast media; the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) for the national wire service; and the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA) for state-owned daily newspapers. Ethiopia’s federal system also produces substantial regional state broadcasters, among them the Oromia Broadcasting Network (OBN) for the Oromo-speaking population (~35 million) and the Amhara Media Corporation (AMC) for Amhara region (~23 million), each funded by their respective regional governments and subject to direct appointment by the regional president. Outside the formally state-owned ecosystem, Fana Media Corporation (FMC), formed by the December 2024 merger of Fana Broadcasting Corporate and Walta Media, is a privately registered share company with effective ownership and editorial direction traced to the ruling Prosperity Party (which succeeded the EPRDF in December 2019), with Deacon Daniel Kibret, Social Affairs Advisor to PM Abiy Ahmed,chairing its management board.

The 2024–2026 period has been defined by sharp deterioration in independent media space. Ethiopia dropped from 141 (“difficult”) to 145 (“very serious”) in the Reporters Without Borders 2025 Press Freedom Index, the country’s first appearance in RSF’s “very serious” category. Documented federal-level enforcement actions include the October 2025 suspension of Deutsche Welle Ethiopian correspondents (two permanently suspended December 2025); the February 2026 revocation of independent outlet Addis Standard’s online media registration; the revocation of Wazema Radio’s license; and at least six journalist arrests between August and December 2025, including the apparent enforced disappearance of The Reporter senior editor Yonas Amare on 13 August 2025. Two ongoing armed conflicts, the Fano insurgency in the Amhara region (since April 2023; state of emergency August 2023 to June 2024 with continuing pressures) and the Oromo Liberation Army insurgency in Oromia, have produced federal restrictions on journalist access and mobile-communication blackouts.