SECTOR 1 1.5 Print publications are not required to obtain permission to publish from state authorities It is illegal in Tanzania to publish a newspaper and other forms of print media without first obtaining a licence from a government authority. The licensing requirement is extended to the sale, distribution, importation and production of print media throughout the country. The law empowers the Director of Information Services Department or its representative to reject applications that do not comply with licensing requirements and equally, to suspend or cancel licences ‘in the event of failure of a licensee to comply with the prescribed conditions of a license’.12 Newspaper licensing conditions are spelt out in Sections 7 through to 16 of the Media Services Regulations (2017). It states that a licence shall be renewed annually, and applicants are required to pay both an initial and an annual licence renewal fee (Sections 12 & 13). Panellists said the licensing system was designed to maintain government control over the print media, mainly through the arbitrary use of its powers to deny, suspend or withdraw licences. They felt that the yearly renewal requirement allowed the government to have a permanent noose around the neck of print media to keep them in check. ‘Once a newspaper is licensed, the government keeps an eye on that publication,’ said one panellist. ‘If after operating you look bad, it becomes hard to renew your licences.’ The authorities have suspended newspaper licences several times over the past years, according to panellists, news reports and NGO sources. Notable examples include Mawio, (banned for two years in 2017) and Mseto (banned for three years in 2016). In 2018, the EACJ overturned the decision by the authorities to suspend Mseto’s licence, saying that the ban was ‘arbitrary and whimsical’, according to a news article by the NGO Media Legal Defence Initiative.13 Panellists said the authorities have ignored the decision and several other court rulings which overturned licence bans. 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: ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓ ✓✓✓ 1.6 2006: n/a; 2008: n/a; 2010: 1; 2012: 1.5; 2015: 1.2 1.6 Confidential sources of information are protected 18 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TANZANIA 2019