{"id":29463,"date":"2025-06-05T06:25:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T10:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=29463"},"modified":"2025-06-05T06:26:30","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T10:26:30","slug":"tanzania-announces-shutdown-of-x-because-of-pornography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2025\/06\/05\/tanzania-announces-shutdown-of-x-because-of-pornography\/","title":{"rendered":"Tanzania announces shutdown of X because of pornography"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tanzania has decided to block access to social media platform X because it allows pornographic content to be shared, the information minister has said.<\/b><\/p>\n

The content was contrary to the East African state’s “laws, culture, customs, and traditions,” Jerry Silaa told a local TV station.<\/p>\n

Tanzanians have reported that access to X has been restricted in the last two weeks after political tensions rose and the police account was hacked, but there has not yet been a total shutdown of the platform.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government has been accused of becoming increasingly repressive as it campaigns to remain in office.<\/p>\n

In its post<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“This inconsistency confuses the public and undermines the credibility of the government’s position,” LHRC added.<\/p>\n

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