The incorporation of Information Communication Technology to the human endeavor have brought cyber space as one of the major areas of cooperation and conflict for actors of international relations. Its decentralized nature challenges traditional conception of state as the sole actor to possess coercive power. As a response states design different ingenuities to incorporate cyber governance as one domain of policy making and research. Likewise a number of legal, policy and institutional initiatives have been designed to guide cyber governance in Ethiopia. However, the over all aspects of cyber governance have posed a peril to digital landscape. The short history of internet has been accompanied by deliberate interruptions and online manipulations by the government. Neither complementarity nor clearly set of line of authority characterizes the institutional and legal architecture of Ethiopian cyber environment. By employing descriptive approach and integrating primary and secondary data sources the article analyzed the overall dilemma of cyber governance and its implication in Ethiopia. Thus the article scrutinizes the institutional, legal and policy aspects of internet governance neither crafts conducive environment for non-governmental actors nor able to support to exploit digital opportunities. This brought socio-economic costs which is generally resulted in what is termed as "digital divide".

No abstract