‘Not Water or Air’: The Legality of Network Disruptions in Ethiopia

Abstract

Network disruption has become commonplace in Ethiopia in the past few years. Be it for preventing exam leaks, the spread of disinformation, or to fight off cyber-attacks, the government has repeatedly disrupted communication networks. However, the legal basis with which the government often shuts down the Internet or disrupts other means of digital communications remains unclear. Despite a recent attempt by the Federal Attorney General to offer some legal justification, the legality of network disruptions under Ethiopia law is questionable. This short article considers the legality of network disruptions under Ethiopian law. Having rejected the legal justifications of the Attorney General, this article argues that the current cybercrime legislation offers a rather sound legal basis for certain forms of network disruption in Ethiopia. It further considers the pertinence of rules dealing with network disruption introduced in the cybercrime Bill (2020). The article suggests that the Bill’s network disruption rules are mostly progressive, but there remains the need for a freestanding legal framework equipped with appropriate safeguards against arbitrary practices.