Le ministère de l'Information a définitivement adopté le 13 mars 2018 une loi votée six mois auparavant par l’Assemblée qui donne à l’organe de régulation des communications en Tanzanie (TCRA) le contrôle des informations publiées sur le net. Les médias sociaux, radios et TV en ligne, blogueurs et plateformes digitales doivent désormais s’enregistrer auprès du TCRA en payant une accréditation à renouveler tous les trois ans, accompagnée d’une taxe annuelle et de frais de dossiers: au total, l’entretien d’un blog revient dorénavant à une moyenne de 900$ par an. “Où les blogueurs et plateformes en ligne vont-ils trouver l’argent pour payer de telles charges?”, s’est insurgé Neville Meena, secrétaire général de Tanzania Editors Forum qui voit en cette mesure une volonté du gouvernement de “restreindre l’accès à l’information en Tanzanie”.
Par ailleurs, tout contenu en ligne susceptible de “conduire au désordre public” ou “menacer la sécurité nationale” est sanctionné d’une peine d’au moins 12 mois de prison et 2 300$ d’amende. De leur côté, les plateformes sont sommées d’exclure tout auteur anonyme ou non-enregistré. “Cette loi va tuer les blogueurs en Tanzanie”, s’alarme Mike Mushi, l’un des fondateurs du blog Jamii Forums contacté par RSF, “aucune rentabilité n’est possible pour un journaliste web dans ces conditions”.
“Les autorités tanzaniennes voudraient faire disparaître la blogosphère du pays qu’elles ne s’y prendraient pas autrement, dénonce Arnaud Froger, responsable du bureau Afrique de RSF. La simple création d’une plateforme représente plusieurs mois de salaire pour un blogueur. Le gouvernement doit absolument revenir sur cette loi qui va anéantir l’information sur le web”.
Déjà en mars dernier, trois organisations tanzaniennes de défense des droits de l’homme ont dénoncé une loi de la presse de 2016 devant la Cour de Justice de l’Afrique de l’Est, estimant qu’elles violaient la liberté d’expression et les conventions internationales de la Communauté de l’Afrique de l’Est. L’un des forums d’information les plus importants de la zone, Jamii Forums, a déjà fait l’objet de harcèlement judiciaire ces derniers mois avec la mise en examen de son co-fondateur.
La Tanzanie occupe la 83e place sur 180 pays dans l’édition 2017 du Classement de la liberté de la presse établi par RSF.
https://rsf.org/fr/actualites/tanzanie-rsf-denonce-une-loi-assassine-pour-la-blogosphere
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the latest blow to free speech in Tanzania, a new law regulating online content under which bloggers now have to pay an exorbitant fee to register with the authorities.
Approved by the national assembly seven months ago and signed into law by the Information minister on 13 March, the “Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations 2018”
gives the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) control
over all online content. Social media, online radio and TV stations,
digital platforms and bloggers are all now required to register with the
TCRA and buy a licence
that must be renewed every three years. What with an annual tax and
other expenses, it will now cost a blogger an average of 900 US dollars a
year to keep a blog. “Where are bloggers and online platforms going to get the money to pay such high charges?” said Neville Meena of the Tanzania Editors Forum, who regards the law as a government attempt to “restrict access to information in Tanzania.”
“Content that leads to public
disorder” and “content that may threaten national security” are
punishable under the new law by at least 12 months in prison and a fine
of 2,300 US dollars. And online platforms are required to bar anyone
from posting anonymously or without being registered. “This is going to kill bloggers in Tanzania,” said Mike Mushi, one of the cofounders of the Jamii Forums news platform. “Most will lose advertisers since they are not legally registered,” he told RSF.
“If the authorities had wanted to destroy Tanzania’s blogosphere, they couldn’t have found a better way to do it,” said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk. “Just
creating an online platform now represents several months’ salary for a
blogger. The government must amend this law, which will otherwise mean
the end of online information.”
Last month, three Tanzanian human rights NGOs filed a complaint
with the East Africa Court of Justice about Tanzania’s 2016 Media
Services Act on the grounds that it violates international conventions
with free speech provisions ratified by the East African Community. Jamii Forums, East Africa’s leading website for anonymous citizen journalists and whistleblowers, has been subjected to intense judicial harassment in recent months and one of its co-founders, Maxence Melo, was arrested under Tanzania’s Cybercrimes Act in December.
Tanzania is ranked 83rd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
https://rsf.org/en/news/tanzania-rsf-decries-law-will-kill-tanzanias-blogosphere
Approved by the national assembly seven months ago and signed into law by the Information minister on 13 March, the “Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations 2018”
gives the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) control
over all online content. Social media, online radio and TV stations,
digital platforms and bloggers are all now required to register with the
TCRA and buy a licence
that must be renewed every three years. What with an annual tax and
other expenses, it will now cost a blogger an average of 900 US dollars a
year to keep a blog. “Where are bloggers and online platforms going to get the money to pay such high charges?” said Neville Meena of the Tanzania Editors Forum, who regards the law as a government attempt to “restrict access to information in Tanzania.”
“Content that leads to public disorder” and “content that may threaten national security” are punishable under the new law by at least 12 months in prison and a fine of 2,300 US dollars. And online platforms are required to bar anyone from posting anonymously or without being registered. “This is going to kill bloggers in Tanzania,” said Mike Mushi, one of the cofounders of the Jamii Forums news platform. “Most will lose advertisers since they are not legally registered,” he told RSF.
“If the authorities had wanted to destroy Tanzania’s blogosphere, they couldn’t have found a better way to do it,” said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk. “Just creating an online platform now represents several months’ salary for a blogger. The government must amend this law, which will otherwise mean the end of online information.”
Last month, three Tanzanian human rights NGOs filed a complaint
with the East Africa Court of Justice about Tanzania’s 2016 Media
Services Act on the grounds that it violates international conventions
with free speech provisions ratified by the East African Community. Jamii Forums, East Africa’s leading website for anonymous citizen journalists and whistleblowers, has been subjected to intense judicial harassment in recent months and one of its co-founders, Maxence Melo, was arrested under Tanzania’s Cybercrimes Act in December.
Tanzania is ranked 83rd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
REPORTERS SANS FRONTIÈRES / REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS (RSF)
Arnaud Froger
Responsable du bureau Afrique / Head of the Africa desk
__________________________________________________
CS 90247 75083 Paris Cedex 02
Skype: rsf_africa
Twitter: @RSF_Africa