As of this Friday, anyone operating an independent online presence in
Tanzania will have to pay a licensing fee equivalent to an average
year’s wages, and submit to a harsh set of censorship rules, as well as
an obligation to unmask anonymous posters and commenters, with stiff
penalties for noncompliance.
The rule covers blogs, podcasts, YouTube channels and other forms of
independent media. Failure to license your channel triggers fines of
“not less than five million Tanzanian shillings” (USD2,500 – almost
three years’ wages) and/or prison sentences of at least a year.
Legal challenges to the rule have failed, clearing the way for it to take effect on the 15th.
Among the sites that have shut down in advance of the rule are Jamii
Forum (called the “Tanzanian Reddit” and the “Tanzanian Wikileaks”),
whose co-founder was arrested in December 2016 for refusing to identify
the sites members.
Also gone are the personal sites of prominent Tanzanian commentators
like Aikande Kwayu and Elsie Eyakuze. Others sites have taken refuge
outside Tanzania: the Udadisi blog has been transferred to Takura
Zhangazha, who lives in Zimbabwe.
Licensed bloggers are bound over to a complex set of rules, including a
mandate to identify all their commenters, and to assist police in
prosecuting commenters whose speech is deemed unlawful.
Online independent media has surged since it first came to Tanzania in
2007, presenting an alternative to the state-aligned tame press.
BettSplendens Tumblr Evac 