Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Viber has been blocked in Ethiopia  after questions from end-of-year university exams were posted online last month.

The examination papers were leaked online in what app, which many have called an embarrassment for the government, forced the tests to be postponed and the social media Blocked.

A government spokesman said the ban was aimed at stopping students taking university entrance exams this week from being “distracted”.

“It’s blocked. It’s a temporary measure until Wednesday. Social media have proved to be a distraction for students,” government spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP news agency.

Ethiopia is one of the first African countries to censor the internet, beginning in 2006 with opposition blogs, according to experts.

According to the Ministry of Education around  254,000 students are to sit for the national examination,.
The country  has a history of censorship and blocking of human rights blogs. In 2012, the regulation restricted voice over internet protocol (VoIP) calls, with users facing a 15 year jail term.

Much of Ethiopia’s attempts to censor the internet is rooted in its laws. A recently proposed legislation which seeks to “criminalize spamming” is feared to be an indirect way to censor journalists and activists online. This follows similar prior legislation believed to be repressive of the internet like the Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation of 2008 and the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009.