Tanzania shuts down X because of pornographic content
By BBC, June 7, 2025Tanzania has decided to block access to the social media platform X because it allows pornographic content to be shared, the Information Minister has said.
The content was contrary to the country’s “laws, culture, customs and traditions,” Jerry Silaa told a local TV station.
Tanzanians have reported that access to X has been restricted in the last two weeks after political tension rose and the police account was hacked, but there has not yet been a total shutdown of the platform.
A Tanzanian rights group posted on X that Silaa’s comments reflected a “troubling pattern of digital repression” ahead of October’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government has been accused of becoming increasingly repressive as it campaigns to remain in office.
In its post, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) said that X, then known as Twitter, faced a similar shutdown in the run-up to the 2020 election, and the “recurrence” of restrictions raised “serious concerns about the openness of digital space” in Tanzania.
The popular social audio app Clubhouse and messaging service Telegram are also inaccessible without the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN), the rights group added.
It said it was troubling that while the minister confirmed the government’s role in blocking X, government officials and public institutions continued to use the platform.
“This inconsistency confuses the public and undermines the credibility of the government’s position,” LHRC added.
In his interview, Silaa linked the ban to X’s announcement last year that it would no longer block “consensually produced and distributed” adult content.
The minister was quoted as saying that X has “permitted explicit sexual material, including same-sex pornographic content” in breach of Tanzania’s online ethics guidelines.
“Even on YouTube, you might notice that some content is inaccessible. That’s part of our broader effort to protect consumers and ensure that all online platforms operating in our country comply with our laws,” Silaa said.
On May 20, 2025, internet watchdog Netblocks reported that X was unavailable in Tanzania following reports that the official police account had been hacked, showing pornographic material and falsely claiming that the president had died.
Pornographic content also appeared on the hacked YouTube account of the tax authority, AFP news agency reported.
It is unclear who carried out the hacking, but it coincided with a government crackdown on Kenyan and Ugandan human rights campaigners who had gone to Tanzania to show solidarity with the main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu.
He has been detained on a charge of treason after he said he would spearhead a campaign to boycott the elections if the laws were not changed to allow for a free and fair poll.
Kenya’s former Justice Minister Martha Karua was among those deported after arriving at the international airport in Tanzania’s main city, Dar es Salaam, ahead of a court appearance by Lissu.
He denies the treason charge, saying the case is political.
Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire were allowed to enter, but were then detained for several days.
After returning home, Atuhaire told the BBC that she had been blindfolded, “violently” stripped and sexually assaulted.
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