New York, March 10, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by research that indicates the Ethiopian government used spyware to monitor journalists at U.S.-based Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) in what appears to be a continuation of surveillance first reported in February 2014.
Its
ESAT, which is accessible online, as well as through TV and radio broadcasts, is one of the few sources of external news that reaches Ethiopia via satellite, according to
In December 2014, ESAT’s managing director Neamin Zeleke became suspicious when he received an email claiming to contain information about the May 2015 elections, according to
Citizen Lab said it linked the attacks to the government by tracing the email to a server run by Ethio Telecom, the state-run telecommunications company. Hacking Team states that it provides software to government entities only, according to the Citizen Lab report.
Citizen Lab researchers were able to identify that the email and other emails targeting ESAT journalists originated from the same place as the December 2013 attack, using an updated version of Hacking Team spyware.
“Ethiopia has made huge strides in providing a better life for its citizens and yet it is scared and intolerant of critical voices that seek to hold it to account,” said Sue Valentine, CPJ Africa program coordinator. “We call on authorities to stop spying on journalists and to allow the news media to do their job, which is to raise issues of public interest.”
A desk officer at the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, D.C. told CPJ to submit a written request for comment. No response to the written request was received.
In its report, Citizen Lab said that the Hacking Team
Hacking Team declined to answer media inquiries on whether it sold its services to Ethiopia, according to
The Citizen Lab findings are the latest example of challenges faced by Ethiopian journalists. In 2014, the number of jailed journalists in Ethiopia climbed from seven to 17, according to