Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Tanzanian authorities Tuesday indefinitely blocked access to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), following a cybersecurity breach and growing political unrest ahead of the October general elections.
The internet monitoring group NetBlocks confirmed the disruption on Tuesday, reporting that the platform became inaccessible on major networks across the country.
“Live metrics show X (formerly Twitter) has become unreachable on major internet providers in #Tanzania; the incident comes as a compromised police account posts claims the president has died, angering the country’s leadership,” NetBlocks stated in a post on X.
The shutdown comes just hours after the official X account of the Tanzania Police Force (TANPOL) was hacked before the attackers falsely announced the death of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, a claim quickly refuted by government officials.
President Suluhu had earlier directed law enforcement agencies to tighten control over digital platforms, citing national security concerns.
“The police must take measures to protect our cyberspace. Social media should not be turned into a tool for destabilization,” she said during a recent public address.
This is the second time in less than a year that Tanzania has blocked access to X, highlighting growing digital repression in the country.
The latest blackout comes amid mounting tensions around the detention of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who faces treason charges. Lissu, a Chadema party stalwart and vocal critic of the ruling party, survived an assassination attempt in 2017 and was barred from contesting in the previous elections.
Opposition groups and civil society organizations have condemned the shutdown as a tactic to suppress dissent and limit public access to information ahead of the 2025 elections.
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