African Media Barometer Tanzania 2015 Summary Tanzania is undergoing significant legal change with the recent passage of two laws - the Cybercrimes Act and the Statistics Act – which were rushed through the Parliament early in 2015, although signed copies of the laws were still not publicly available as at early June 2015. Other draft laws which are likely to negatively impact the media environment, such as the Media Services Bill and the Access to Information Bill, remain pending. In addition, a vote in a referendum on the draft constitution, which was to take place following a two-year constitutional review process, has been delayed indefinitely. With presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in October 2015, a state of uncertainty prevails in the country. This AMB took place at a time of this uncertainty. Although the Cybercrimes Act and the Statistics Act have not yet been gazetted and no regulations have been published for their implementation, stakeholders have seen the earlier drafts of these bills and there are serious concerns that their contents appear to reverse years of progress on media freedom in Tanzania. Currently, freedom of expression is guaranteed to all citizens in both constitutions of Tanzania (1977) of Zanzibar (1984). Although Zanzibar is legally an autonomous unit within the United Republic of Tanzania, Zanzibari law is governed overall by the 1977 Tanzanian constitution. But freedom of the media is not specifically mentioned in either constitution. Article 38 of the proposed draft constitution of September 2014 guarantees freedom of expression while Article 39 also guarantees freedom of information and the news media. But it is not certain when the new constitution will be adopted. Tanzania has numerous laws that severely infringe upon this basic human right, with more than 20 of them that curtail freedom of expression, including the Newspaper Act (1976), the Penal Code (1945), the National Security Act (1970) and the Public Service Act (1962). However, the increased use of social media in recent years has provided a new platform for journalists and members of civil society to express themselves more freely on various issues. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Tanzania 2015 7