Abstract:
This study explores The Roles and Responsibilities of Ethiopian Activists on Facebook during the Northern Ethiopian Civil War. The civil war was broke out in 2021 between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and Tigray Peoples Liberation Front. The study used Qualitative Content Analysis to analyze four influential Activists Posts on Facebook. It takes 80 samples out of 232 war-related Posts or contents using Purposive Sampling. The research employed three theories: Agenda setting, Framing, and the New Media Theories. The research has revealed one the four activists used their post to express their ideologies to their followers about the war. Second, the content analysis has shown the activist posts were polarized. Third the activists post were subjective which minimize the role of activisim during the war. Activists practice and role should be delivering accurate information/content during the war .Four, the activists failed to practice ethical communication activities or they were not ethical communicators. Because of these factors they aggravated the conflict rather than looking for a way out from the war. The study recommends activists may obey both moral and ethical values and the respective legal frameworks related to freedom of speech like The Ethiopian Constitution 1994 and similar conventions Ethiopia ratified. The study recommends the activists to follow their consciousness before sharing any content at any time. Lastly the study recommends the government of Ethiopia would facilitate trainings on activism roles and responsibilities in collaboration with Higher Education and Ethiopian Media Authority to address the knowledge and skill gaps of the activists who have too many followers.