Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition joins the international community in demanding accountability and transparency for the grave human rights violations documented in Tanzania during and after the October 29, 2025 elections, including allegations of hundreds of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and mass arbitrary detentions targeting protesters, opposition figures, and civil society.
There have also been widespread reports of arbitrary arrests and detentions of hundreds of protesters, human rights defenders, civil society activists, and opposition leaders following the post-election unrest, with more than 1,700 individuals reportedly facing charges for serious offenses like treason, conspiracy to commit an offense, and armed robbery.
We also express outrage over the Tanzanian government’s recent request that Meta, parent company of Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook, restrict access to the accounts of two prominent Tanzanian activists — a move that further restricts people’s access to information within and outside the country, compounding the impact of the ongoing partial internet shutdowns. According to technical data from the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), access to Signal and Telegram have been blocked, adding on to the ongoing blocking of X since May 2025, further underscoring the government’s tightening control of the country’s digital space. On 3 December, various Meta accounts of two prominent Tanzanian activists, Mange Kimambi and Maria Sarungi Tsehai, were restricted by Meta at the request of the Tanzanian Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA). Mange Kimambi’s WhatsApp and Instagram accounts were banned for allegedly violating Meta’s community standards while Maria Sarungi’s Instagram account was blocked in Tanzania by legal order. Kimambi and Sarungi have been among the key Tanzanian activists outside of the country that continue to draw attention and demand accountability for the atrocities committed during the recent unrests in the country and have been instrumental in using their accounts to mobilize Tanzanians for the Independence day protests scheduled to take place on December 9, 2025. Meta’s transparency report states that the TCRA requested restrictions on 3 Instagram accounts on the grounds of alleged violations of Tanzanian law, including the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulation 2020. Meta further noted that non-compliance risked the blocking of its platforms in Tanzania.
Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition are alarmed that Meta did not take any steps to challenge this attempt to silence critical voices in line with its publicly stated commitment to protect freedom of expression as a member of the Global Network Initiative and Corporate Human Rights Policy. Companies have a duty to conduct human rights due diligence and mitigate the risk of contributing to human rights abuses or being complicit in exacerbating existing tensions or conflicts, including when reviewing and taking decisions on government requests. Complying with government-driven censorship of activists unlawfully infringes on the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and peaceful assembly enshrined in the Constitution of Tanzania and guaranteed under several regional and international frameworks to which Tanzania is signatory including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Any legislation or policy that limits these rights, including the legal requests for content takedowns or account restrictions, must satisfy the three part test of necessity, legality, and proportionality. The provisions of law relied on to restrict the accounts of the activists fail this test prima facie. Furthermore, the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa 2019 also calls on States not to “engage in or condone any disruption of access to the internet and other digital technologies for segments of the public or an entire population.”
Internet shutdowns and violence are closely intertwined. These acts of censorship come as people in Tanzania are still feeling the impact of the recent violence against protesters and a five-day internet blackout, further hindering both domestic and international efforts to demand transparency and accountability. Confirming what the #KeepItOn coalition has been reporting since 2015, international judicial bodies have recently started to recognize that internet shutdowns should be considered while investigating international crimes, due to their human rights violation-concealing nature.
With nationwide protests planned for December 9, 2025, corporate actions that enable government-imposed censorship in times of crisis risk exacerbating authorities’ violence, repression, and brutal crackdown on protestors in the dark while being shielded by internet shutdowns and information control. Authorities in Tanzania have shown their unwillingness to allow people exercise their freedom of assembly and have banned the upcoming independence day protests, issuing a stern warning to people planning to participate. We join other stakeholders in demanding that the government respect human rights and refrain from employing any form of violence against protesters. We call on Meta, other tech companies, and ISPs operating in Tanzania to uphold human rights and resist orders from the government which contribute to human rights violations.
Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition demand:
To the Tanzanian government:
- Respect and uphold human rights including the freedom of expression, access to information and the freedom of assembly of people in Tanzania.
- Restore access to all restricted digital platforms, and refrain from any form of restriction including internet shutdowns and employing the use of disproportionate force and extrajudicial actions against people exercising their rights.
To Meta:
- Restore access to blocked accounts belonging to activists
- Expose and actively push back against human rights violating directives from the Tanzania government, in coordination with civil society and affected communities.
To ISPs and Telcos operating in Tanzania:
- Resist any potential censorship or internet shutdown orders from authorities and ensure people in the country have unfettered and secure access.
Signatories
- Access Now
- Activate Rights
- Afghanistan Democracy and Development Organization (ADDO)
- Afia-Amani Grands-Lacs
- Africa Freedom of Information Centre
- African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX)
- AfricTivistes
- Africa Open Data and Internet Research Foundation
- Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE)
- Bloggers of Zambia- BloggersZM
- Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding CEMESP
- Change Tanzania
- Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)
- Computech Institute
- DigiCivic Initiative
- Digital Rights Kashmir
- Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria
- Initiative for Embracing Humanity in Africa (IEHA)
- International Press Centre (IPC)
- International Press Institute
- Internet Governance Tanzania Working Group (IGTWG)
- Internet Sans Frontieres (Internet Without Borders)
- Internet Society DRCongo Chapter
- Internet Society Togo Chapter
- iWatch Africa
- JCA-NET(Japan)
- KICTANet
- Jonction, Senegal
- Kijiji Yeetu
- Life campaign to abolish the death sentence in Kurdistan Network
- Media Foundation for West Africa
- Media Rights Agenda (MRA)
- Myanmar Internet Project
- Office of Civil Freedoms
- Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
- Organization of the Justice Campaign
- Paradigm Initiative (PIN)
- PEN America
- RFK Human Rights
- SMEX
- SMSWithoutBorders
- Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet)
- Tech & Media Convergency (TMC)
- Ubunteam
- West African Digital Rights Defenders Coalition
- Women Empower and Mentor All (WEmpower)
- Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET)
- YODET
- Zaina Foundation