Tanzania threatened to block Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp nationwide if Meta refused to restrict the accounts of three activists.
In a post shared on X by journalist Larry Madowo, screenshots of Meta’s transparency report show direct communication between Tanzania’s Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) and the company.
According to the document, the TCRA “requested to restrict access to 3 Instagram accounts for allegedly violating the following laws…” before listing a long string of Tanzanian statutes—from the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania (1977) to the Cybercrimes Act (2015), the Online Content Regulations (2020), the Penal Code, the Media Services Act, the National Security Act, and more.
Tanzania threatened to block Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp in the country if Meta refused to block accounts of 3 activists.
Meta removed two of them and restricted the third pic.twitter.com/miBlvlfffO
— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) December 5, 2025
The report explains that the targeted accounts had posted items that “included calls for peaceful protests and contained criticism of the government during the election period.”
Then comes the heavy pressure point. The TCRA warned Meta of the consequences if the company refused to comply. The document states clearly that “the risks of not complying with the request included blocking Meta’s platforms in Tanzania.”
In other words, the government effectively gave Meta an ultimatum: either take action on the activists’ accounts or risk Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp being shut down across the entire country platforms millions of Tanzanians depend on for communication, business, and access to information.
Meta’s response shows they partially complied. Under the “Result” section, the company says:
“We removed 2 items for violating Community Standards. We temporarily restricted access to 1 item in Tanzania in response to regulatory demands and notified the impacted user.”
So Meta didn’t fully shut down the three activists’ accounts as demanded, but it did take down some content and applied regional restrictions likely an attempt to deescalate tension without completely giving in.