SECTOR 1 Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: Score of previous years: ✓✓ ✓ ✓�� ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓ 2.0 2006: 2.1; 2008: 2.8; 2010: 2; 2012: 3.3; 2015: 2.7 1.3 There are NO legal restrictions to freedom of expression or laws that interfere with the functioning of the media. (e.g. official secret, libel acts and legal requirements) At the last count, Tanzania had about 24 pieces of legislation that can be invoked to trample upon the public’s right to freedom of expression and the media. Panellists cited the Prisons Act, the Cybercrimes Act, the National Security Act, the Protected Areas and Places Act, the Undesirable Persons Act and even the Media Services Act among the most severe and most frequently used. The Protected Areas and Places Act, just as the Undesirable Persons Act, is quite an off-the-wall piece of legislation that is open to broad interpretation and is easily violable. The Act prohibits the public use of information obtained from physical locations classified as protected (at the discretion of the competent minister), notwithstanding that it serves any legitimate public and security interest. A panellist said the public was hardly made aware of the list of protected places and areas, yet defaulters run the risk of 20 years’ imprisonment if found guilty. Panellists said as it might suit the occasion, the government tends to dig up long forgotten laws and pieces of legislation and apply them. ‘We no longer talk about these repressive laws because we don’t want to remind them of their existence.’ Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: Score of previous years: 16 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TANZANIA 2019 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 1.8 2006: n/a; 2008: n/a; 2010: n/a; 2012: n/a; 2015: 1.8 ✓