Ethiopia has been virtually cut off from the internet for 11 days

Ethiopia entered Friday’s 11th day with severely limited internet access. The Ethiopian regime decided to block the internet on June 30 after a popular singer and activist in the country was shot dead.

According to statistics of Netblocks, which monitors internet blockages worldwide, connectivity in Ethiopia has steadily improved since June 30, but is still below 20 percent after 11 days. On the other hand, there are also reports that the government lifted the blockade on Friday.

The blockade was put in place after popular singer Haacaaluu Hundeessaa was gunned down on June 29 in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Riots and demonstrations are said to have broken out against Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, but reports about this were difficult to verify, according to Amnesty International, due to the internet blockade.

According to Access Now, it is certainly the fifteenth time that the government in Ethiopia has shut down the internet. Recently, the internet in the region of the Oromo ethnic group is said to have been blocked. Hundeessaa also belonged to this group. He stood up for the rights of the Oromo.