National shutdown
Polls opened in Tanzania for presidential and parliamentary elections.
More than 37 million registered voters are casting their ballots from 7am (4:00 GMT) until 4pm (13:00 GMT) local time. The election commission says it will announce the results within three days of election day.
As Tanzanians went to the polls there were widespread reports of a nationwide Internet shutdown. Access Now and the #keepiton coalition had previously called for the government to ensure unrestricted Internet access during the elections.
- Total Duration 5 days, 6 hours
Tanzania
- Population
- 68,560,157
- UN Classification
-
- Least Developed Country
Local impact
According to Viral Tea, "major mobile network operators in Tanzania have cut off internet access nationwide, heightening fears of a state-orchestrated information blackout intended to control the narrative and block citizens from sharing real-time updates on social media".
TechCabal reports that, "three journalists who spoke to TechCabal from Dar es Salaam and Arusha said social platforms were unreachable without VPNs. They confirmed that Facebook and WhatsApp had been off since early morning.
Tanzanian authorities have not issued a statement on the outage. The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) and major telecom operators have not responded publicly."
Other supporting information
