The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Tanzanian authorities to immediately annul fines levied against five television stations that the regulatory commission accused of broadcasting seditious and unbalanced content. CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney said the government is using the broadcasting watchdog as a proxy for censoring political reporting. This, Mahoney said, is deeply disturbing for the future of independent reporting in Tanzania.
He said the authorities must scrap these fines immediately and resist the temptation to use regulation to undermine rights guaranteed by law. On 02 January, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) fined Star TV, Azam Two, Channel 10, ITV, and East Africa TV a total of TZS 60 million. This happened after the stations covered a report by a non-governmental human rights organisation alleging that abuses were committed by security personnel and other unidentified people during the country's 26 November ward by-election.
The alleged abuses supposedly included abductions and obstructing voters. TCRA said the five stations' coverage of the human rights report violated the country's 2005 Broadcasting Services (content) regulations. It alleged that the coverage of the report was inciting and threatened the peace and security of the nation, and that the stations did not properly verify its truthfulness.