New Frontier of Digital Diplomacy - Social Media and National Security in Contemporary Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Today, the ongoing debate surrounding social media and their national security threats has gained much scholarly attention given their far-reaching implications on the society in general and diplomacy in particular. Hence, the study primarily explored social media and national security as new frontiers of digital diplomacy in contemporary Ethiopia. This study followed a qualitative approach as study design on the basis of interpretative research paradigm. Since the topic is a little bit unexplored, the study used exploratory method as a main research strategy. Samples were mainly drawn by using purposive and snowball sampling strategy. The study used both primary and secondary sources of data. All data acquired from the primary and secondary sources were qualitatively analyzed and discussed using thematic and content analysis methods. The findings of the study revealed that information disorders and foreign influence operations on social media platforms have undermined Ethiopia's national security particularly during the Northern Ethiopian conflict and in connection with GERD. Western countries mainly United States (U.S.) and its allies were confirmed as the chief instigators of influence operations against Ethiopia. Egypt and its state-owned media organizations were also other threat actors behind influence operations. Moreover, the study identified there is a clear gap in adopting policies, strategies and legal frameworks to counter threats of social media mainly foreign influence operations. Although digital diplomacy played some important role in countering these problems, still there is a long way ahead to effectively thwart national security threats. Ethiopia’s digital diplomacy was very infant and it only gained some momentum in Ethiopia due to two major factors - GERD and Northern Ethiopia conflict. This shows that Ethiopia’s engagement with digital diplomacy is not ‘proactive’ rather it is ‘reactive’. As recommendation, the study suggested that it is imperative for Ethiopia to device strong digital diplomacy engagement center and avail the necessary resources. Moreover, it is very essential for the legislative body to enact and implement clear policy, strategy, institutional rules and procedures concerning social media and digital diplomacy engagement. The MFA must build strong institutional setup with well-trained and well-equipped personnel to make digital diplomacy more effective. More coordination is needed from various stakeholders, research institutions, government officials, diplomats, media and other relevant civil and security agencies to address transnational problems emanating from social media platforms.