Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has joined the #KeepItOn Coalition, a network of human rights groups and international actors, to call for accountability and transparency regarding serious human rights violations in Tanzania following the October 29, 2025, elections for which reports document hundreds of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and mass arbitrary detentions, primarily targeting protesters, opposition figures, and civil society members, prompting urgent calls for justice and thorough investigations.
Hundreds of protesters, human rights defenders, civil society activists, and opposition leaders are reported to have been targeted, with more than 1,700 individuals reportedly facing charges for serious offences, including treason, conspiracy to commit an offence, and armed robbery.
Concerns have also been raised over the Tanzanian government’s recent request that Meta, the parent company of Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook, restrict access to the accounts of two prominent Tanzanian activists. This move further limits the public’s access to information both within and outside the country, compounding the effects of ongoing partial internet shutdowns.
Technical data from the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) indicates that access to messaging apps Signal and Telegram were blocked, adding to the ongoing restriction of X (formerly Twitter) since May 2025. These measures underscore the government’s tightening control over the country’s digital space.
Recall that on December 3, 2025, Meta restricted several accounts of prominent Tanzanian activists, including Mange Kimambi and Maria Sarungi Tsehai, at the request of the Tanzanian Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA). Kimambi’s WhatsApp and Instagram accounts were banned for allegedly violating Meta’s community standards, while Sarungi’s Instagram account was blocked in Tanzania by legal order.
Both Kimambi and Sarungi have played a central role in drawing international attention to the atrocities committed during the recent unrest. They used their platforms to mobilise citizens for the Independence Day protests scheduled for December 9, 2025. Meta’s transparency report notes that the TCRA requested restrictions on three Instagram accounts, citing 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 highlighted that failure to comply with these requests could have led to the blocking of its platforms in Tanzania.
Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition have expressed deep concern that Meta failed to challenge the Tanzanian government’s attempt to silence critical voices, despite the company’s public commitments to protect freedom of expression as a member of the Global Network Initiative and under its Corporate Human Rights Policy. Technology companies bear a responsibility to carry out human rights due diligence and ensure that their actions do not contribute to abuses or worsen existing tensions, including when responding to government requests.
By complying with state-driven censorship of activists, Meta has infringed on fundamental rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and peaceful assembly, rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Tanzania and protected under regional and international frameworks such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Any law or government request that limits these rights must meet the tests of necessity, legality, and proportionality, yet the legal provisions used to justify restricting the activists’ accounts clearly fail to meet this standard.
The Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa (2019) also urges 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.” Despite this, Tanzanians continue to face the consequences of recent violence against protesters and a five-day internet blackout; actions that have hindered domestic and international efforts to demand transparency and accountability. As the #KeepItOn coalition has documented since 2015, internet shutdowns and violence often go hand in hand. International judicial bodies are now beginning to recognise that these shutdowns should be considered in investigations of international crimes because of their ability to conceal serious human rights violations.
The groups called on Meta, other technology companies, and internet service providers operating in Tanzania to stand firm in defending human rights, and asked them to resist government orders that contribute to rights violations and take proactive steps to prevent their platforms and services from being used to suppress civic space.
Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition are calling on the Tanzanian government to respect and uphold the fundamental rights of its citizens, including freedom of expression, access to information, and the freedom to assemble. They urge authorities to immediately restore access to all restricted digital platforms and to put an end to every form of repression, both online and offline, ranging from internet shutdowns to the use of excessive force and extrajudicial actions against people exercising their legitimate rights.
The coalition is also directing clear demands at Meta. They insist that the company must reinstate access to the blocked accounts belonging to the targeted activists and take a stronger stand in defending human rights. This includes openly challenging and resisting directives from the Tanzanian government that violate rights, while working closely with civil society and affected communities to ensure that its platforms do not become tools for censorship or repression.
Signatories to the statement include Access Now, Activate Rights, African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX), Afghanistan Democracy and Development Organisation (ADDO), Africa Freedom of Information Centre, AfricTivistes, Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE), Change Tanzania, Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding CEMESP, Digital Rights Kashmir, Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria, JCA-NET (Japan), Life campaign to abolish the death sentence in Kurdistan Network, Initiative for Embracing Humanity in Africa (IEHA), Initiative for Embracing Humanity in Africa (IEHA), International Press Centre (IPC), and International Press Institute.
Others are Internet Sans Frontières (Internet Without Borders), Internet Society DRCongo Chapter, Internet Governance Tanzania Working Group (IGTWG), iWatch Africa, Jonction, Senegal, Kijiji Yeetu, Media Foundation for West Africa, Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Myanmar Internet Project, Office of Civil Freedoms, Organisation of the Justice Campaign, SMEX, 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, and Zaina Foundation.
