Hashtag Wars: Analysing “Digital Woyane” and “Digital Media Army” During the War on Tigray

Hagos Nigussie, Hagos Sibhat and Gebru Kiflu
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Hagos Nigussie: Department of Media Studies, Paderborn University, Germany
Hagos Sibhat: Institute of Political Science, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany
Gebru Kiflu: Department of Journalism and Communication, Mekelle University, Ethiopia

Media and Communication, 2027, vol. 15

Abstract: The Ethiopian government declared war on Tigray (2020–2022) amid the country’s ethno-polarised political landscape and state-imposed communications shutdown, emphasising the strategic importance of Twitter (now X) for narrative control, mobilisation, and international influence. This study examines the hashtag campaigns of the pro-Tigray Digital Woyane and the Ethiopian government-aligned Digital Media Army. It conceptualises hashtag activism as a form of information warfare in which strategic narratives seek to establish legitimacy, mobilise supporters, and delegitimise adversaries. Guided by social identity theory, this study employed a mixed-methods design involving quantitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis of tweets and hashtags, supplemented by manual screenshot collection ( n = 500). The findings show that Digital Woyane (252 tweets) primarily highlighted civilian suffering through narratives of atrocities, hunger, humanitarian crises (including the killing of Médecins Sans Frontières staff), and appeals to international institutions before progressively shifting towards themes of resistance. In contrast, the Digital Media Army (248 tweets) emphasised sovereignty, national unity, and denial narratives while systematically delegitimising and discrediting international media and reports of human rights violations. Overall, the hashtag campaigns functioned as a form of information warfare, facilitating transnational advocacy while simultaneously amplifying propaganda and competing narratives on X. This study contributes to our understanding of how X shapes conflict narratives, amplifies selective information, and reinforces information warfare in contemporary armed conflicts.

Keywords: Digital Media Army; Digital Woyane; Ethiopia; hashtag activism; hashtag wars; war on Tigray; X (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2027
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:meanco:v15:y:2027:a:12748

DOI: 10.17645/mac.12748

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