The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), disclosed on Wednesday that it had suspended the digital platforms of one of the local media companies operating within the East African country.
The TCRA noted that Mwananchi Communications Ltd had put out content it found damaging to the country and as a result, issued a 30 day suspension.
“Mwananchi Communication Ltd published audio-visual content on its social media platforms… that has been prohibited by … the Online Content Regulations 2020,” the regulator said.
“The content has led to negative interpretations to the nation, which is affecting and disrupting unity, peace and national harmony.”
However, the regulatory body, as reported by Reuters, failed to specify the exact content that had triggered the ban.
According to the report by Reuters, The Citizen, one of Mwananchi’s publications recently deleted a video it had put up on its X and Instagram platforms, admitting that the deleted the video which “depicted events that raised concerns regarding the safety and security of individuals in Tanzania”, had been misinterpreted.
The footage in question showed a woman watching a television program in which individuals complained about missing or killed family and acquaintances.
Following the ban, the country’s second-largest opposition party, ACT-Wazalendo, urged government officials to reverse the decision.
Recent violence controversy in Tanzania
Earlier in September, Ally Kibao, a senior politician and member of the secretariat of the Chadema party, was found dead on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam after he was abducted by armed individuals.
Kibao’s lifeless body was discovered, “severely beaten” and nearly unrecognizable owing to the acid poured over his face, according to local news reports.
Speaking to media, CHADEMA chairman Freeman Mbowe stated that Kibao was traveling by bus from Dar es Salaam to the north-eastern port city of Tanga when he was abducted and carried away by two armed men, according to eyewitnesses.
The news of the unfortunate incident garnered the attention of international stakeholders, some of which spoke against the violent act and called for immediate action.
In response, Tanzania’s president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, asked the West to stop interfering in its internal affairs, to which the West simply refused.
She had requested that foreign diplomats in her country adhere to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961).
