Ethiopia: A Dangerous Precedent – Raid On Addis Standard Is a Chilling Affront to Data Privacy in Ethiopia. We Reject the Impunity! We Ring the Alarm Bell!

Addis Abeba — In a chilling affront to press freedom and data privacy, the police in the capital Addis Abeba recently raided the offices of Addis Standard, a publication that “is not an irresponsible scandal sheet but an objective publication,” to use the words of former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Tibor Nagy, who captured the outrage succinctly.

The police confiscated a wide array of electronic devices – including laptops, mobile phones, external hard drive, and flash drives, under the pretext of investigating a non-existent documentary allegedly intended to “incite violence.” This justification has not only been categorically denied by the publication but remains unsupported by any charges in court. The move, instead, appears to be a blatant attempt to conduct an unprecedent data breach.

…what makes this incident especially alarming is not just the assault on journalistic freedom – it is the unprecedented violation of data privacy and digital security

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has rightly expressed “grave concerns about the potential misuse of sensitive data,” urging authorities to return the confiscated items and end the baseless investigation. “The Addis Standard raids are the latest moves in the Ethiopian government’s campaign to silence independent media. The confiscation of the outlet’s equipment raises grave concerns about potential misuse of sensitive data,” said the CPJ.

But what makes this incident especially alarming is not just the assault on journalistic freedom – it is the unprecedented violation of data privacy and digital security. In a post-raid assessment, our IT team uncovered evidence of sophisticated surveillance malware planted on returned devices. These tools enabled real-time tracking, unauthorized access to private communications, cloning of sensitive files, and even remote activation of microphones and cameras. This is not mere overreach; it is systemic digital sabotage by state security apparatus. The police did not just seize equipment; they compromised the safety of staff, sources, and the public’s trust in digital communication, leading this publication to decommission the compromised digital assets.

Equally disturbing is the police’s audacious admission that they will “retain backup data” from the seized devices. This declaration of open data cloning amounts to state-sanctioned theft of intellectual property, confidential correspondence, and potentially source identities – posing a danger far beyond this publication itself. It signals to all journalists, civil society actors, and ordinary citizens that their private data could be extracted, copied, and weaponized without due process. The implications are vast: every Ethiopian who uses a phone or laptop now faces the prospect of being surveilled under the guise of “pending investigation.”

Despite the gravity of these violations, no formal charges have been brought against this publication, nor has there been transparency from the Ministry of Justice or Government Communication Service, who were asked for comments from the CPJ. The silence from these bodies, coupled with the police’s opaque conduct, reinforces a disturbing pattern of impunity. In any functioning state, such sweeping intrusions would trigger robust institutional checks. Ethiopia must be no exception.

What happened to this publicationshould therefore not be dismissed as an isolated incident – it is a test case for the broader future of digital rights and data privacy in Ethiopia, not just freedom of the press, which already under strain

This publication therefore calls upon the Ethiopian Media Authority to urgently investigate the legality and propriety of the police’s actions in accordance with the country’s media law. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission must also launch an independent inquiry and hold those responsible accountable for these grave violations. The data breach, media suppression, and threat to source confidentiality set a dangerous precedent that Ethiopia has never experienced in the past.

What happened to this publicationshould therefore not be dismissed as an isolated incident – it is a test case for the broader future of digital rights and data privacy in Ethiopia, not just freedom of the press, which already under strain. If these violations go unchallenged, the consequences will ripple far beyond this newsroom. It will erode the public’s right to know, endanger the safety of whistleblowers, and compromise Ethiopia’s own ambitions to become a digital economy powerhouse. After all, how can a country credibly claim to build a knowledge-based, innovation-driven economy while allowing arbitrary police-sanctioned data cloning?