Tanzania Restricts Access to X After Hackers Spread False News of President’s Death

By: Chioma Madonna Ndukwu

The Tanzanian government has blocked access to the social media platform X after a police account was hacked and used to falsely report the death of the country’s president. The incident was confirmed by global internet observatory NetBlocks, which noted a sharp disruption to the platform’s accessibility across major internet providers in the country.

The shutdown occurred during heightened political tension following the detention of two prominent activists — Kenya’s Boniface Mwangi and Uganda’s Agather Atuhaire — who had travelled to Tanzania to observe the treason trial of opposition figure Tundu Lissu. Their whereabouts remain unknown since their arrest earlier in the week.

According to AFP, users in Tanzania were only able to reach X through the use of VPNs. NetBlocks stated: “X (formerly Twitter) became unreachable in Tanzania after a hacked police account falsely announced the President’s death, drawing a strong backlash from the government.”

Speaking in parliament, Minister of Information, Communications and Technology Jerry William Silaa confirmed the cyberattack and added that the official YouTube channel of the Tanzania Revenue Authority was also compromised. He attributed the breaches to inadequate security systems and assured the public that the affected accounts had been recovered.

Law enforcement has launched an investigation to track down those behind the false announcement and warned citizens against sharing unverified information online.