SW News: Social media sites including TikTok, Facebook, and Telegram, were blocked in Ethiopia amid anti-government rallies, according to the internet watchdog NetBlocks.

This has been due to widespread unrest brought on by a split in Ethiopia's Orthodox Church. The Church has accused Ethiopia's government of meddling in its affairs after labeling a splinter group in the largest part of the nation as "illegal."

The Church split after churchgoers in Oromia announced a new synod on January 22. They claimed this was necessary because they needed to practice their faith in regional tongues, which are followed by the majority of Ethiopia's more than 110 million people. Several Church leaders who took part in the split were excommunicated by the mainstream Church.

Several dozen cities and towns, especially in Oromia and on the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa had violent rallies earlier in the week. In a statement released on Thursday, the administration accused unknown organizations of wanting to "shake the government via armed violence." The administration has started "bringing to justice (those) who are participating in the movement," according to the statement. The government would not intervene; Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has asked churchgoers to resolve their concerns. However, many churchgoers accuse the prime minister, who is Oromo by ethnicity and a Protestant, of weakening the Tewahedo Church and supporting the breakaway synod.

The country had been in turmoil as no one knows how many thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict between Ethiopian and allied forces and those of the Tigray regional government, which had long dominated Ethiopia’s government before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018. The Church said on Friday that Abiy and the Church patriarch were in discussions over the scandal that has swept several areas of the nation.