The passage comes three months after the cabinet led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, approved it and forwarded it to the house. It is known as the Hate Speech and Misinformation Law and was approved with a majority vote, 23 against and 2 abstentions.

Core planks of the new law include:

• Prevent individuals from engaging in speech that incites violence, promote hatred and discrimination against a person or a group.
• Promote tolerance, civil discourse and dialogue, mutual respect and understanding and strengthening democratic governance.
• Control and suppress the dissemination and proliferation of hate speech, disinformation and other related false and misleading information.
• Prohibits disseminating hate speech by means of broadcasting, print or social media using text, image, audio or video.

“It is deemed necessary to enact the law because the nation cannot address problems arising from hate speeches and fake news with existing laws,” a November 2019 statement issued from the council of ministers said.

Social media has been identified as one of the main avenues used to incite ethically tinged violence leading to deaths and displacements in East Africa’s most populous nation. The law also comes with months to keenly awaited elections.

The country is currently listed among global leaders in the area of internally displaced people. Ethiopia, as Africa’s second most populous nation, had a restrictive media space prior to April 2018 and the coming into office of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Sticking by his reform promise, Abiy released hundreds of political prisoners, jailed press men and opened up the media landscape. Under his watch, media outlets previously banned were allowed to return and operate in the country.

Social media has however been a blessing and headache for Abiy. His office has effectively used Twitter and Facebook to project work being done by government.

But the platform has also been blamed for the rise in the spread of fake news and the peddling of hate speech. As expected the new law continues to receive backlash from journalists and human rights activists especially.

Read Also – Mahmood Ahmadu awarded ‘Best Technology Leader of the Year’ at the recent 7th African Ambassadors and Diaspora Interactive Forum (AAIF), in London.

Source – https://www.africanews.com/

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On a dramatic night inside and outside the Commons, a second referendum narrowly won the most votes tonight – losing 295 to 268. A permanent UK-EU customs union won almost as much support and had fewer votes against – defeating it 272 to 264.   

No Deal was rejected by 400 to 160, while MPs voted 273 to 184 against cancelling Brexit altogether. A soft Brexit plan to join EFTA and the EEA lost 377 to 65, while a similar Norway-style plan lost 283 to 188. Jeremy Corbyn’s plans lost 307 to 237.

The Brexiteers’ favoured plan to negotiate a two-year standstill deal with the EU suffered the worst defeat 422 to 139.   

At the second meaningful vote on March 12, Mrs May’s deal was defeated 391 to 242 – a weaker performance than a second referendum and a permanent customs union. 

MPs voted against a backdrop of Mrs May announcing she will quit as PM if MPs back her deal – which was not on the menu tonight. Her deal still appears doomed after the DUP said they would vote against it again.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the failure of MPs to find a consensus undermined the need for MPs to back Theresa May’s ‘compromise’ deal. He said failure to do so meant ‘there are no guarantees on where this process will end’.  

He warned there was ‘no simple way forward’ and told the Commons ‘there are no easy options here’.  

The Commons was suspended for 30 minutes so MPs could fill in a green ballot paper, answering yes or no to each of the eight proposals.   

The most favoured options are due to go through to a second round vote next week. If there is a firm conclusion then, MPs will then try to pass new laws forcing Theresa May to adopt their favoured option, before Britain will leave the EU on April 12 assuming the Brexit deal does not pass this week. 

Labour led the charge for a second referendum and a soft Brexit as Jeremy Corbyn orders his MPs to vote for watering down the Government deal that has been crushed twice already.

Mr Corbyn was expected to face a raft of resignations from Labour frontbenchers opposed to a public vote. In the event, shadow housing minister Melanie Onn was the only one to quit – though 27 Labour MPs rebelled overall. 

Amid deep Tory splits, most Conservative MPs will get a free vote across the board, except for the Cabinet who will be told to abstain. The move will avoid a dozen or more junior ministers resigning tonight. 

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A second referendum narrowly won the most votes tonight – losing 295 to 268. A permanent UK-EU customs union won also as much support and had fewer votes against – defeating it 272 to 264.

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Brexiteer Tory MP Michael Fabricant tweeted a picture of his indicative vote ballor tonight.He endorsed plans for a No Deal on April 12 and negotiating a two-year ‘standstill’ deal with the EU

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Three ministers were among 10 Tory rebels who voted to revoke Article 50 and stay in the EU to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

Foreign Office ministers Sir Alan Duncan and Mark Field were joined by health minister Stephen Hammond in voting for the motion tabled by the SNP’s Joanna Cherry, which was defeated by 293 votes to 184.

They were joined by ex-Government figures and Remainer rebels including ex-chancellor Ken Clarke, ex-education secretary Justine Greening and former attorney general Dominic Grieve.

Mr Clarke was also the only Tory to back a motion by Jeremy Corbyn which would back it’s alternative Brexit plan, which includes a closer relationship with the EU than Theresa May’s deal.

His own motion, that would have backed a Brexit plan with a customs union, was defeated by eight votes after a dozen Labour Leave-supports MPs voted against it.

They included John Mann and Denis Skinner and mostly represented seats in the north which voted to quit the EU

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The Prime Minister also revealed she will bring back her ailing deal for a third time ‘as soon as possible’ in a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk which also suggested she will try to introduce new reassurances on the Irish border backstop to win over Brexiteers and the DUP.

Mrs May told the Commons today that Britain is ‘fed up’ of waiting to quit the EU and said it would be ‘quite wrong’ if the public is asked to vote in the June European election three years after they voted to leave the bloc.

Hinting any further delay would lead to her resignation she twice told the Commons: ‘As Prime Minister I am not prepared to delay Brexit any further than June 30′ and afterwards her spokesman refused four times to rule out she might quit.

As it stands, Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29. May will on Thursday go to Brussels and ask for an extension to that date after failing to win backing for her Brexit deal. If the EU does not agree to a delay, the UK will leave the EU without a deal next Friday. 

Mrs May has promised the EU she will try to pass her Brexit deal ‘as soon as possible’ and use the delay to make it law. If the EU refuses to offer a delay tomorrow, she could try again to pass her deal next week and then call for an emergency second summit to get a delay to implement it. 

In a plea to MPs who have voted her deal down twice already she said in the Commons today: ‘This House spending endless hours contemplating its navel on Europe. This House has indulged itself on Europe for too long. The British people deserve better’.

But minutes later, in an extraordinary attack on his own Prime Minister, Tory backbencher Peter Bone told Mrs May in PMQs that she will be ‘betraying’ the nation ‘if we don’t leave on March 29’ and warned that ‘history will judge’ her decision to delay having told the Commons 108 times that the UK would leave on time. 

Mrs May last night abandoned her plan to ask the EU for a nine-month Brexit delay or longer after furious Brexiteer cabinet ministers threatened to quit and told her the Tory party would only accept a wait until June. 

This morning she spoke to Mr Juncker who reportedly told her that the EU would only consider a short extension until on May 22 to avoid Britain having to take part in European elections – or the delay will have to be up to two years.   

The PM has now published the letter sent to Donald Tusk today, which says Britain needs a delay until June 30 to pass and legislate for her deal – and it also blasts Commons Speaker John Bercow for making it ‘impossible’ to hold a third meaningful vote on her deal before the summit. 

She appealed for the EU Council – which includes the leaders of all EU states – to formally adopt the three extra documents agreed with Mr Juncker last week to pass Mr Bercow’s ruling on a new vote being on a ‘substantially different’ purpose. 

Mrs May’s letter said: ‘If the motion is passed, I am confident that Parliament will proceed to ratify the deal constructively. But this will clearly not be completed before March 29, 2019.’

Admitting the timetable was ‘uncertain’ she said: ‘I am therefore writing to inform the European Council that the UK is seeking an extension to the Article 50 until June 30 2019.’  

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This is Theresa May’s letter to Donald Tusk begging for a delay and asking them for help to ensure her deal can be voted on for a third time after John Bercow made it ‘impossible’ not

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European Research Group (ERG) stalwarts Jacob Rees-Mogg and Iain Duncan Smith are wavering in their opposition to Mrs May’s agreement, sources say, as they face warnings its failure could cause a lengthy delay which could put Brexit itself at risk.

It comes after David Davis made the bombshell decision to vote for the deal on Tuesday, and former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey said she would be going through the aye lobby next week ‘the rules have changed’.

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European Research Group (ERG) stalwarts Jacob Rees-Mogg (left, on Thursday) and Iain Duncan Smith (right, on February 28) are wavering in their opposition to Mrs May’s agreement, sources say

But despite the positive signs Mrs May still faces a difficult task ahead, with senior ERG figures predicting she will lose her third vote by ‘well over 100 votes’, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

Mr Duncan Smith is said to have been prepared to back Mrs May’s deal at its second showing if Attorney General Geoffrey Cox had changed his legal advice on the Irish backstop, as was ERG chairman Mr Rees-Mogg.

‘Iain and Jacob were both on the verge, and they are still looking to rat,’ a colleague told The Sunday Times.

Ms McVey, who resigned in protest at Mrs May’s agreement, is insistent that voting with the Prime Minister is now her only option as ‘the rules have changed’.

She told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that this week’s vote to rule out No Deal had left MPs facing the choice between ‘this bad deal and no Brexit whatsoever’.

‘When I resigned there was still a chance to get a better deal or no deal – which is what we stood on in our party manifesto – but this week the government and parliament conspired to take no deal off the table. So I will be holding my nose,’ she said.

Meanwhile, former Brexit Secretary David Davis is rallying support for the deal after his bombshell decision to back it last week.

He joined 15 MP who signed an open letter warning the rebels that they risk losing Brexit entirely. Signatories included Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski – who voted against the Government only last week.

The increase pressure on Tory rebels appears to be having some impact, with Mr Rees-Mogg reportedly ‘snippy’ with Eurosceptic allies urging him not to back down at a gala this week .

Deputy ERG chair Steve Baker is also ‘under great strain’, a colleague told The Sunday Times, with some believing him to still be ‘in play’. Other rejected this assessment. 

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Siobhain McDonagh said that hardline entryists into the party had a mindset ‘to be against capitalists and to see Jewish people as the financiers of capital’.

The Mitcham and Morden MP, a critic of party leader Jeremy Corbyn, hit out as the party’s furious long-running row over anti-Semitism showed no sign of calming down.

Asked by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether she thought the party was dealing with the problem ‘seriously, MS McDonagh said: “I’m not sure that some people in the Labour Party can.

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Mr Corbyn has found himself and his leadership at the centre of an ongoing and furious row over allegations of anti-Semitism in the party and how they are dealt with

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Chris Williamson was suspended by the party last week after saying it had been ‘too apologetic’ about the issue, sparking a massive backlash from MPs

“Because it’s very much part of their politics, of hard left politics, to be against capitalists and to see Jewish people as the financiers of capital. Ergo you are anti-Jewish people.’

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A group of 23 dissidents met secretly at the Commons last night to discuss how to stop Britain leaving the EU without an agreement on March 29, with as many as 15 said to be ready to resign.

In an article for the Mail today, three of the ministers involved say they are prepared to back a Commons move by rebel MPs tomorrow to force the Prime Minister to seek a Brexit delay if her deal is voted down.

Industry minister Richard Harrington, digital minister Margot James and energy minister Claire Perry ‘implore’ Mrs May to say that if there is no deal agreed by Parliament by March 13 then she must seek a way to extend Article 50.

Industry minister Richard Harrington (left), digital minister Margot James (right) and energy minister Claire Perry ‘implore’ Mrs May to say that if there is no deal agreed by Parliament by March 13 then she must seek a way to extend Article 50

And in a dramatic development last night, it appeared the Prime Minister was preparing to bow to their demands and rule out a No Deal Brexit.

It came as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was accused of ‘cynical betrayal’ after performing a U-turn and backing a second referendum – and backing a second referendum – breaking a manifesto vow by his party. Allies of the Prime Minister revealed that the Cabinet will discuss proposals this morning that could see the UK request a short extension of Article 50 of around two months if the PM’s deal is voted down by MPs again, for a second time, on March 12.

If ministers back the plan Mrs May could float the idea in a statement to Parliament as early as this afternoon.

The idea is a desperate bid to stave off the mass rebellion by ministers and avert a looming Commons defeat tomorrow over the motion put forward by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and Tory Sir Oliver Letwin that would empower Parliament to force a Brexit delay on the Government.

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All this with a Prime Minister isolated and a Leader of the Opposition in denial.

To top it all, the future of Britain’s two-party democratic system hangs in the balance.

As the late, great cricketing authority EW Swanton was wont to deadpan when reflecting on a particularly exciting Test match: It has been an absorbing few days here in Westminster.

Considering the recent behaviour of the latter two of this Europhile coven, you could have been prosecuted under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 to have called them Tories.

Now, after another day of defections, all three belong to The Independent Group, the hastily constructed shelter for the politically homeless.

They had performed the traditional – some might say unnecessarily incendiary – act of crossing the chamber floor yesterday morning prior to an oxygen-starved Prime Minister’s questions.

Snapped by Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger, all seven former Labour MPs who resigned on Monday gathered shoulder-to-shoulder for a selfie

Their new colleagues sat waiting for them, ready and regimented as the Trumpton fire brigade: Berger. Shuker. Umunna. Coffey. Smith. Leslie. Ryan. Gapes.

Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) gave them a round of applause.

Luciana Berger (Liverpool Wavertree) and Ms Allen and stroked and mewed each other like playful tabby cats. What a cosy scene.

Then it was off with their new friends to face Westminster’s gathering press circus.

Gone were the glum drop faces of Monday’s Labour deserters. These girls were in disco celebration mode, a female version of Kool & the Gang.

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Nick Boles, who has led cross-party efforts to secure the softest possible Brexit, stopped short of saying he would stay in the Tories and insisted he was fully focused on stopping a no deal on March 29 when asked if he would defect from the Conservatives.

Other Tory MPs such as Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston will also be the focus of attention with just 39 days until Brexit day. Both have vowed to do anything to stop a no deal and have warned they would quit the Tories if Boris Johnson or Jacob Rees-Mogg became leader. 

At a sensational press conference Chuka Umunna, the ringleader of the new group, made a direct appeal to politicians in all parties warning voters were ‘sick of politics as usual’.  

He was one of seven Labour MPs to quit with an explosive attack on Jeremy Corbyn for letting anti-Semitism and a culture of bullying infect their party. 

After the move Mr Corbyn’s own deputy warned more MPs would abandon the party if Labour fails to deal with a culture of bullying and harassment. 

Tom Watson said he believed the decision of seven MPs to resign and set up a new Independent Group was ‘premature’ but he refused to condemn them as ‘traitors’ as he admitted he also no longer recognised parts of Labour.

Labour’s second in command said the hard-left takeover over of the party had left it with an army of activists ‘too easily tempted into the language of heresy and treachery’.  

The new ‘Independent Group’ of MPs is drawn from different generations of Labour and also includes pregnant  MP Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Gavin Shuker, Ann Coffey and Mike Gapes. 

Their resignation signals the biggest split in British politics since the SDP walked out of Labour in 1981 and realigned the left – paving the way for Tony Blair’s election in 1997. 

They appealed to the public for donations to get the new project – which is not yet a political party and is not yet able to stand candidates – off the ground. 

They accused Mr Corbyn of turning Labour into a racist party that weakens national security, accepts the ‘narrative’ of Britain’s enemies and lashed him for facilitating Brexit. 

Luciana Berger said she had become ‘ashamed and embarrassed’ to be in Corbyn’s Labour, branding the party ‘institutionally anti-Semitic’. The MPs involved are (seated from left) Chris Leslie, Mike Gapes, Ann Coffey, Ms Berger, Angela Smith, Chuka Umunna and Gavin Shuker 

Vowing to ‘change politics’, the new ‘Independent Group’ of MPs – drawn from different generations of Labour – includes (from left) Chris Leslie, Mike Gapes, Luciana Berger, Ann Coffey, Chuka Umunna, Angela Smith and Gavin Shuker 

Tory MP Nick Boles stopped short of denying he would consider joining – insisting today he had not spoken to any of the seven MPs and was working with all sides to stop a no deal Brexit

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson (pictured responding to the crisis today) said he believed the decision of seven MPs to resign and set up a new Independent Group was ‘premature’ but he refused to condemn them and admitted he no longer recognised parts of Labour

Mr Watson warned Mr Corbyn he could lose more MPs if he did not respond effectively to today’s blow.

He said: ‘I think our colleagues have come to a premature conclusion. But this is a moment for regret and reflection, not for a mood of anger or a tone of triumph. There are those who are already celebrating the departure of colleagues with whom they disagree.

‘The hard left can be too easily tempted into the language of heresy and treachery. Betrayal narratives and shouting insults at the departed might make some feel better briefly but it does nothing to address the reasons that good colleagues might want to leave.’

He added: ‘The identity of this party must be tolerant, multi-cultural, generous and welcoming. To put it mildly, we need to be kinder and gentler.

‘I love this party. But sometimes I no longer recognise it. That is why I do not regard those who have resigned today as traitors.’ 

Asked if he would join the new group, Mr Boles – who faces an attempt to de-select him by Brexiteer activists in his Grantham constituency – told BuzzFeed: ‘They’re all good people and I understand completely why they felt driven to leave Labour.

‘I have not spoken with any of them about their plans and am totally focused on working with MPs of all parties to stop a no-deal Brexit on 29 March.’ 

Mrs May’s former policy board chief George Freeman warned today: ‘Unless the Conservatives reunite around a pro-business Brexit and recast it as a moment of inspiring One Nation renewal for a new generation, we’ll be next.’ 

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