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  HomeCollaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)  /  Tanzania
19Jan

Supercharging Human Rights Defenders // East Africa

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By Small Media |
Building off the success of our 2016 report ‘Supercharging Human Rights Advocates in the Levant’, the Small Media team is excited to announce our latest project in a whole new region. Making use of the practices we’ve developed in our work across the Middle East, Small Media is setting out to survey the cybersecurity landscape in East Africa. Over the course of this project, we aim assess the state of internet controls in the region, and support the development of a regional community of internet freedom researchers, digital security experts, and human rights defenders.
Over recent years, regional civil society organisations and human rights defenders have been confronted with significant security challenges as internet freedom is threatened across East Africa. The Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), one of our local partners for this project, have highlighted various issues involving undue prosecution of Internet users in East Africa in their 2016 State of Internet Freedom in Africa report. In Tanzania this has involved users being targeted and arrested for offenses including ‘insulting the president’ and news sites being shut down. Netizens in Uganda faced blocked social media and mobile money services in the build up to the February 2016 elections, alongside crackdowns on ‘offensive communications’, in the form of bans on social media accounts that criticise the government. Burundian social media users have seen platforms including Viber, Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook shut down during public protests against government figures. In addition to this, Rwandan citizens face among the world’s worst restrictions on freedom of speech and political activity, including stringent online censorship targeted at those discussing ‘sensitive’ topics.
Freedom House’s 2016 Freedom on the Net report highlights the challenges faced in Rwanda and Uganda, but there are a number of gaps in regional knowledge that we aim to fill. With levels of access to the Internet growing steadily in the region, and some concerning indications of a ramping-up of state efforts to crackdown on internet freedom, it is important that the digital security needs of CSOs and netizens are addressed in an urgent manner.
Thus, focusing on Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania, our research seeks to fill the gap that exists by identifying the digital security threats facing CSOs in the East Africa region, recommending a plan of action and then developing the capacity of CSOs to respond to the threats that they face.
Our Project
The first phase of this project involved working with two of our local partners, CIPESA and DefendDefenders, to select high-quality workshop participants and trainers, in order to create and train a secure, strong and enthusiastic community of regional, on-the-ground digital security experts and researchers. The training given at the workshop has equipped local actors to engage in comprehensive and long-term digital security research, thereby supporting the future needs of CSOs across the region.
Building on the successful outcome of the workshop, our local researchers – working alongside our regional partners – are now hard at work carrying out the core components of the research project, including:

  1. Legal and Policy Analysis – to assess the current legislative frameworks that exist within East African states, and to establish what powers governments have to monitor and prohibit online communications.
  2. Network Measurements – to assess the internet infrastructure in each of the target countries. Our researchers are using OONI Probe and ICLab’s Centinel software to establish the level of censorship taking place, and highlight any network vulnerabilities to state-directed internet shutdowns.
  3. CSO Cyber Capacity Assessments – interviews are being undertaken with a number of CSOs to identify the most urgent digital security threats they face, and to measure their defences.

With the training workshop completed, Small Media and our local partners are currently working with an enthusiastic team of local researchers to carry out the on-the-ground research components. We’ll be busily compiling our research findings over the next couple of months, but we look forward to presenting you with our findings and recommendations upon the report’s publication in March 2017. Stay tuned!
This article was sourced from the Small Media website.
 

19Dec

LATEST: Maxence Melo Released on Bail

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By CIPESA Writer |
After five days in police custody, Jamii Forums founder Maxence Melo has been released today (December 19). Melo, who was detained at a police station in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam, was granted interim release with six individuals standing as surety for a bond amount of 6 million Tanzanian shillings (USD 2,700).
Melo was last Friday charged with three offences stemming from his alleged refusal to release user data from the popular news and discussion portal Jamii Forums. He is faced with two counts of not complying with a disclosure order under Section 22 (2) of the Cyber Crimes Act of 2015 and one count of managing a domain that is not registered in Tanzania under Section 79(c) of the Electronic and Postal Communications Act (2010).
For each charge, two individuals stood surety for the accused at 1 million Tanzanian shillings (USD 450) each. According to his lawyer, another bail condition set for Melo is that he should not travel outside of Dar es Salaam without court’s permission.
The case is scheduled to be heard  in court on December 29, 2016.

16Dec

UPDATE: Maxence Melo Charged with Obstruction of Investigations and Operating a Domain Not Registered in Tanzania

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By CIPESA Writer |
Jamii Forums Founder, Maxence Melo has been charged with three offences before a court in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The charges are:
1: Management of a domain not registered in Tanzania under Section 79(c) of the Electronic and Postal Communications Act (2010).
2: Obstruction of investigations under Section 22 (2) of the Cyber Crimes Act  of 2015 for not complying with an order of disclosure of data in his possession. This followed an order by the Tanzania Police Force to release data pertaining to electronic communications published on his Jamii Forums site between April 10, 2016 and December 13, 2016.
3: Obstruction of investigations under Section 22 (2) of the Cyber Crimes Act  of 2015 for not complying with an order to disclose data in his possession. This follows an order by the Tanzania Police Force to release data pertaining to electronic communications published on his site between May 10, 2016 and December 13, 2016.
Section 79 of the Electronic and Postal Communications Act (2010) provides for the regulation of all electronic communication numbering and electronic addresses by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA). Part C of the section mandates the authority to perform oversight role of management of the country’s code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).
Meanwhile, Section 22 of the Cyber Crimes Act 2015 relates to unlawful interference with investigations and refusal to comply with an order under the Act.
Max was arrested on Tuesday December 13. He remained in police custody until his arraignment before court this morning. According to his lawyer, a bail application has been denied.

14Dec

PRESS RELEASE: Tanzania Should Immediately Release Digital Rights Activist Maxence Melo

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By CIPESA Writer |
The police in Tanzania has detained Maxence Melo, a freedom of expression activist and co-founder of the popular online discussion platform, Jamii Forums. Although no charges have been brought against Melo, who was arrested at 1pm on Tuesday, December 13, his lawyer says the detention is an intimidation tactic on the backdrop of an ongoing case before the courts on the constitutionality of the Cybercrime Act of 2015.
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) strongly condemns this unjustifiable arrest, and urges Tanzanian authorities to immediately release Melo and henceforth cease any intimidation of Jamii Media (the company under which Jamii Forums is run), its staff, and other social media users. Melo’s arrest extends the steady and worrying deterioration in media freedom and internet freedom since President Pombe Magufuli took the reins of power at the end of last year. As one user on the platform noted, Jamii Forums provides Tanzanians with an alternative source of information in addition to “relying on traditional media outlets, which are increasingly becoming state-controlled.”
According to Melo’s lawyer, Benedict Alex Ishabakaki, the activist was arrested because of Jamii Media’s refusal to comply with police demands for disclosure of the identities of users who posted “sensitive information” on the platform. Last July, police officials issued a letter to Melo indicating intention to sue him for criminal liability for failure to comply with disclosure notices. In the letter, police put Melo on notice under Section 22 of the Cybercrimes Act 2015 for obstruction of investigations.
Section 22 of the Act states:
(1) A person who intentionally and unlawfully destroys, deletes, alters, conceals, modifies, renders computer data meaningless, ineffective or useless with intent to obstruct or delay investigation commits an offence and on conviction, is liable to a fine of not less than three million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not less than one year or both.
(2) A person who intentionally and unlawfully prevents the execution or fails to comply with an order issued under this Act, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine of not less than three million shillings or to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to both.
See Cybercrimes Act 2015
A number of Tanzanian social media users have been charged under this law that took effect in September 2015. According to Ishabakaki, Jamii Media’s refusal to comply with the police disclosure notices was partly informed by a lack of regulations governing the Act. “At the time [the notices were issued], there were no mechanisms in place or procedures for disclosure of the requested information,” said Ishabakaki. Moreover, he added, “We refused to disclose the information because it is against the constitutional guarantees of individuals’ right to privacy under Article 18.”
In April 2016, after being issued with eight letters by Tanzanian police demanding the disclosure of the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of users, Jamii Media went to court challenging the disclosure orders by the law enforcement agency. The users whose identities authorities sought were linked to bringing to light corruption scandals in the oil and banking sectors. According to the State of Internet Freedom in Africa 2016 report, the disclosure notices indicate a bias towards protecting notable figures implicated in scandals or against whom users have used profanities.
In its petition, Jamii Media challenged the arbitrary letters from the police and specifically the provisions of Section 32 and 38 of the Cybercrime Act that appear to infringe the right to be heard, the right to privacy and freedom of expression as provided for under the constitution. Initially, the government responded by raising six preliminary points of objection against the petition, which it termed frivolous and vexatious. The government stated that Jamii Media should explore other remedies rather than file a constitutional petition. During preliminary hearings, judges dismissed the objections and the case proceeded in court. A ruling on the case is due on February 20, 2017.
According to Ishabakaki, Melo’s detention tantamounts to police interference in the ongoing case, the issues of which are still before the constitutional court. “Police officers are misusing their power,” he said.
Prior to his arrest, Melo was summoned to appear in court, by way of telephone call. Upon arrival at the court, an officer told him to appear at a police station, where he was immediately detained.
“No charges have been filed. We were unable to apply for bail yesterday as the law requires detention for 24 hours before formal application of bail,” Ishabakaki told CIPESA on the morning of December 14. He added that police officials had indicated that Melo would appear in court this morning but as at 11am local time, this had not happened. “They are not prepared. It is just harassment. They want information from him,” said the lawyer.
Back in 2008, Melo, along with Jamii Forums co-founder Mike Mushi, were detained and interrogated by police for 24 hours in Dar es Salaam in what was believed to be a politically motivated attempt to shut down their site. Police confiscated computers used to host the website, causing it to go off air for five days while the equipment remained in police custody.
In September 2015, the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC) filed a case challenging the constitutionality of some provisions of the Cybercrime Act, which it contends infringe constitutional provisions on freedom of expression, right to information, and privacy.
The Tanzanian government is accordingly urged to refrain from applying this law, or any other of the repressive laws that remain on its statute books, to gag legitimate expression by citizens be it in the online or offline domain.

21Apr

Is Tanzania Becoming an Internet Freedom Predator?

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By Juliet Nanfuka |
Tanzania appears to be steadily sliding into a predator of critical social media users, as state authorities continue to arrest and prosecute users for expressing what many see as legitimate opinions. In recent months, the country’s newly elected government has used  a controversial new law  to prosecute at least seven social media users, in spite of  constitutional guarantees of free speech.
Tanzanian netizens are falling foul of the Cybercrimes Act enacted last year, whose stated goal is “criminalizing offences related to computer systems and Information Communication Technologies”. The law has been used to charge citizens for “publication of false information” in accordance with Section 16 of the Act. It states: “Any person who publishes information or data, presented in a picture, text, symbol or any other form in a computer system knowing that such information or data is false, deceptive, misleading or inaccurate and with intent to defame, threaten, abuse, insult or otherwise deceive or mislead the public or councelling the commission of an offence, commits an offence, and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not less than five million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not less than three years or to both.“
On April 15, 2016 Isaac Habakuk Emily was appeared in court for the publication of false information using a computer system – in this instance Facebook. In a post, Emily referred to President Pombe Magufuli as an imbecile that could not be compared to the country’s founding leader, Julius Nyerere.  He appeared in court for insulting the president after his post was reported to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).
See report on State of Internet Freedom in Tanzania 2015
Since the Cybercrimes Act took effect last September, Tanzanian social media users have “gone a little quiet”, according to journalist Joseph Warungu. And for good reason, as Emily is not the first individual against whom the law has been used. In October 2015, Benedict Angelo Ngonyani was charged for “spreading misleading information” after he posted on Facebook that Tanzania’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Davis Mwamunyange, had been hospitalised following food poisoning. In the same month, Sospiter Jonas was charged for posting to Facebook content stating that Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda “will only become a gospel preacher.” The following month, four staff of an opposition party were charged for publishing “inaccurate” election results on Facebook and Twitter.
The stated objective of the Cybercrimes Act was to fight rising incidents of cybercrime such as bank fraud, mobile money theft, phishing attacks, website hacking and spoofing. However, even as it was being debated, human rights defenders warned that the government would use the law to suppress critical voices. As one activist stated, “We usually use various internet platforms to communicate our information—Twitter, Facebook, blogs, SMS, WhatsApp, etc. The use of all these forms will be rendered useless by the Act which in part criminalises transmission of any information deemed misleading, defamatory, false or inaccurate by the government.”
The Cybercrimes Act was reportedly passed in the middle of the night and has been criticised for disregarding press freedom and freedom of expression, granting excessive powers to police, and offering limited protections to ordinary citizens.
Clamping down on social media users is a trend that has been increasingly witnessed in East Africa and beyond.  In Kenya, Section 29 of the Kenya Information and Communications Act (2013) has been used to charge up to 10 social media users for “the improper use of a telecommunication system” in 2016 alone. In Uganda, Section 25 of the Computer Misuse Act bears similar language and states, “Any person who willfully and repeatedly uses electronic communication to disturb or attempts to disturb the peace, quiet or right of privacy of any person with no purpose of legitimate communication whether or not a conversation ensues commits a misdemeanor.” In the lead up to the February 2016 general elections, a series of arrest were made which saw social media users charged using this law.
Further afield, South Africa’s Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill (2014) also bears similar vague clauses that muzzle opinion of the media, bloggers and other independent actors that promote freedom of expression and increased state transparency. In Nigeria, the Frivolous Petitions Bill (2015), popularly known as the Social Media Bill, threatens to muzzle public expression online.
The Cybercrimes Act is one of several laws Tanzania  enacted in the lead up to the October 2015 general elections despite public outcry that these laws granted excessive powers to the police criminalised  expression and access to information, and did not provide clear legal recourse to citizens.
As affronts to citizens’ online rights in Tanzania and other countries continue, self-censorship is likely to prevail which in turn would have a negative impact on citizen participation, transparency and accountability in governance.
NB: Section 16 of the Cybercrimes Act 2015 has been adjusted to reflect the fine of not less than five million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not less than three years or to both.

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