The Tigray People’s Liberation Front has announced crackdown on media outlets it accuses of undermining “unity and inciting violence.” The warning, delivered without naming specific outlets or presenting evidence, has sparked deep concern among journalists and observers.
At a recent meeting with journalists in Mekelle, Veteran TPLF official Fetlewerk Gebregziabher accused unnamed outlets of “calling for violence” and serving what she described as “the enemies’ agenda.” She warned that the party and the army had agreed to enforce a “zero tolerance” policy against such media.
“Media in Tigray have been drawn into the internal in the party dispute,” she said, branding some unnamed outlets the “mouthpiece of a group that betrayed.”
It remains unclear how the “zero tolerance” policy will be enforced leaving Journalists and medias with heightened uncertainty. Observers express concern that the warning could pave the way for arrests, closures of media outlets, or tighter censorship. Independent media in Tigray have long operated in a climate of intimidation. And recently following the heightened tensions in the political space private media outlets report pressure, face harassment, intimidation and including several incidents of arbitrary arrest.
TPLF, which dominated Ethiopia’s ruling party, EPRDF for nearly three decades, has a history of close control over press freedom. Critics say the party often blurred the line between state-owned outlets and partisan platforms, sidelining alternative voices. For many the latest warning suggests a continuation of that approach.