STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA REPORT 2021 50

MEDIA
INDEPENDENCE
Some journalists in small
towns across Tanzania reported
threats and intimidation from
authorities during 2020 and
2021.
Between January and April
2020, at least 13 media
workers,
including
seven
journalists and bloggers were
arrested and prosecuted for
allegedly
contravening
the
Online Content Regulations of
2018.
On June 23, 2020, the
government
revoked
the
licence of the Swahili daily
tabloid, Tanzania Daima, citing
alleged repeated violations of
national laws and journalism
ethics. (3)
Newsrooms in commercial
hub Dar es Salaam and other
urban centres claim they
routinely came under pressure

from regulatory bodies such
as the Tanzania Information
Services and the Tanzania
Communications
Regulatory
Authority (TCRA) over their
content.

JOURNALISTS’ SAFETY
AND PROTECTION
Between January and April
2020, at least 13 media
workers,
including
seven
journalists and bloggers were
arrested and prosecuted for
allegedly
contravening
the
Online Content Regulations of
2018.
The charges included failure
to
register
websites
and
YouTube channels at the staterun Tanzania Communications
Regulatory Authority (TCRA),
the country’s communications
watchdog,
which
oversees
online content.
Newsrooms

in

commercial

hub Dar es Salaam and other
urban centres claim they
routinely came under pressure
from regulatory bodies such
as the Tanzania Information
Services and the Tanzania
Communications
Regulatory
Authority (TCRA) over their
content.

INTERNET ACCESS
AND AFFORDABILITY
At least 43.7 million people
have
mobile
phones
in
Tanzania, but only 23.1 million
have internet access.
This is despite data released
by the British technology
research firm Cable, which
revealed that Tanzania had
the cheapest internet in East
Africa.
The report titled World Wide
Mobile Data Pricing 2021 said
Tanzania “has the cheapest
data in East Africa at $0.75 for
every gigabyte of data.” (4)

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