Since the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) began an insurrection in northern Ethiopia, mass coordination by its Tigrayan supremacist supporters on twitter influenced many Western journalist to publish rebel propaganda. Now our new investigation reveals these pro-TPLF supremacists adopted recent White supremacist tactics, by flooding anti-war activists’ twitter accounts with complaints, until Twitter was manipulated to suspend those accounts that advocated for peace.

This Twitter crisis of unwarranted Ethiopian suspensions has been compared to the wrongful suspension of various American journalists & activists, after far-right white nationalists and neo-Nazis flooded Twitter with malicious complaints, according to the Washington Post.

Earlier during the Ethiopian conflict, Twitter suspended the account of prominent pro-democracy activist Seyoum Teshome (@Seyoum_teshome with over 100k followers). He was a victim of malicious “twitter reports” by Tigrayan supremacists online since he opposed the Tigrayan insurrection. In the past, as a university lecturer in Oromia, Seyoum defended Oromo protesters in 2016 and promoted nonviolent protestors in Amhara region, which together led to the eventual downfall of the TPLF one-ethnic dictatorship in Addis Ababa.

Another notable victim of Tigrayan supremacists on twitter was Araya Tesfamariam (@Arayatesfamari1) who was ethnic Tigrayan himself, but unlike TPLF supporters, he opposed war and violence as a means of political change in Ethiopia. Twitter suspended his account (over 100k followers) after the pro-rebel Tigrayans engaged in a coordinated and malicious mass reporting. 

The new rounds of recent twitter suspensions  correlated to the #NoMore global anti-war African movement opposing western interventions that support ethnic rebellions, particularly in the horn of Africa. In November, Ethiopians were joined by Eritreans and other Africans, during global demonstrations in many Western capitals, to oppose diplomatic, political and media support for the TPLF insurrection in Ethiopia. 

Some of the organizers of this #NoMore pro-peace movement included @stesfa and @HornofAfricaHub; multiple accounts with distinct identity & purpose but were nonetheless wrongly suspended by twitter. These anti-war diaspora demonstrations were also joined by African-American and social justice groups like the Answer Coalition and the Black Alliance for Peace. They have both criticized alleged twitter censorship of Ethiopian anti-war accounts, while twitter was accused of not suspending accounts of genocidal rebel leaders like @reda_getachew whose TPLF is designated a terrorist organization.  

According to prominent ethnic Tigrayan journalist Hermela Aregawi, who opposed the pro-war campaign by TPLF online supporters worldwide, Simon Tesfamariam (stesfa) is an Eritrean journalist and activist who opposes the TPLF as well.  Aregawi, who previously had inside access into TPLF operations, became famous after she exposed that pro-war Tigrayans started a fake “Tigray Genocide” narrative on social media to influence Western media like CNN, even as Tigrayan militants were simultaneously committing atrocities on minorities in Maikadra. She has since faced online attacks, defamation and cyber-bullying from the close-knit TPLF community that wants to restore Tigrayan supremacy in Ethiopia.

On Wednesday, Voice of America (VOA) reported that Ethiopians have formally “filed a complaint with Twitter, accusing the social media giant of suspending accounts critical of Tigrayan rebels.” 

Contacted by Awasa Guardian (AG), Twitter’s Head of Site Integrity Yoel Roth did not respond to requests for comment, as of this writing. While most critics say Twitter is being misused and deceived by Tigrayan supremacists, others say Twitter is also becoming a state monopoly by aligning itself with some unpredictable and misguided US government foreign policies. “The removal of Twitter accounts advocating for peace in the Horn of Africa shows the connection between the state and big tech companies. Freedom of speech is an illusion when communications are controlled by corporations which follow governmental dictates,” according to a Black Agenda Report (BAR) analysis.

The war in Tigray region broke out in November 2020 when TPLF rebels ambushed federal officers and began a chain of atrocities including the mass killing of ethnic Amhara minorities in Maikadra town. In response, the federal government of Nobel Prize winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has arrested key TPLF ringleaders but has yet to disarm the rebellion, which has led to more bloodshed and a humanitarian crisis