Over the past two months, a series of leaked documents from Ethiopia’s powerful political elites have been circulating online. Among other revelations, the leaks show that the Ethiopian government has been paying online commenters to influence social media conversations in the ruling party's favor. The list shows the names of the so-called “social media commentators” along with their job titles and a precise amount of money that they apparently received for their online postings. On the heels of the list came a separate leak of what appears to be a proposal to counter opposition groups using social media platforms. But from an incoherent drip of leaks a common outlook emerges that there is unprecedented power struggle happening among Ethiopia’s ruling elite.

Source: Ethiopian News January 20, 2018 01:18 UTC