This three-year initiative was focused on empowering Ethiopian citizens to counter online hate speech, misinformation, and incitement to violence on social media.

Here is a summary of the key activities and outcomes of the project, which you can use to accompany photos on your website:

Project Highlights: Actions for a Safer Digital Space

We conducted a range of activities across Ethiopia to build resilience against online manipulation and hate speech, including:

• Training & Capacity Building: We held Social Media Literacy Workshops for youth, students, community leaders, and civil society organizations (CSOs) across multiple regions to identify and respond effectively to online disinformation and propaganda.
  • Photo Opportunity: Workshops in session, group activities, participants receiving certificates.
• Empowering Fact-Checkers: We established a Fact-checking Fellowship Programme (AFF-ETH) for journalists and media professionals, equipping them with advanced digital verification skills to contribute publicly to information accuracy.
  • Photo Opportunity: Fact-checking trainees in a dedicated session, fellows working on computers.
• Creating Digital Safe Spaces for Women: We hosted Digital Security and Online Safety Training specifically for grassroots women’s rights groups and CSOs, focusing on mitigating online gender-based violence (OGBV) and ensuring secure digital engagement.
  • Photo Opportunity: All-women training sessions, group discussions focused on safety.

• Building a Network of Trainers: We trained a cadre of local experts through a Training of Trainers (ToT) program, ensuring the knowledge and skills for digital peacebuilding continue to spread sustainably across communities.
• Mass Awareness Campaigns: We ran extensive social media and public campaigns, such as #HateFreeEthiopia, fostering public discussion and influencing positive attitudes toward responsible and peaceful social media use.
• Resource Development: We created a multilingual resource base of educational materials, making critical information on media literacy and digital security open and available in local Ethiopian languages.
  • Photo Opportunity: Printed educational materials, people reading guides, website screenshots of the resource library.

In Summary: The #defyhatenow Ethiopia project successfully empowered a new generation of digital peacebuilders, equipped with the tools and knowledge to foster a more inclusive, truthful, and resilient online environment for all Ethiopians.