by Thinus Ferreira
In a shocking move as it continues its crackdown on press freedom in Tanzania, the East African country on Monday banned all of the country's local TV and radio outlets from broadcasting any foreign content without explicit permission from the increasingly dictatorial Tanzanian government, and forcing foreign journalist to get and be accompanied by a government official when covering any news in the country - similar to the modus operandi used in North Korea.
The shocking regulations, published on Monday 10 August 2020 by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority under "The Electronic and Postal Communications" amendment, now prohibits any radio or TV media from broadcasting any foreign content without prior government approval.
Foreign correspondents and journalists from TV news channels or any other media will no longer be allowed to be in the country without a Tanzania government official accompanying them everywhere they go, similar to the North Korea playbook.
It's not clear how TV channels, TV news channels like CNN International, BBC World News or Sky News, or pay-TV operators like MultiChoice, MultiChoice Tanzania, China's StarTimes Tanzania, or Zuku will be able to work with or around the shocking regulations.
Pay-TV operators like MultiChoice, StarTimes and Zuku all carry collections of Tanzanian, African-based and international TV news channels.
It's not clear how Tanzania's government plans to regulate or approve the massive amount of foreign content broadcast daily on all of these channels, or if the pay-TV operators will have to black out these channels in the way that China's communist government has done from time to time with channels like CNN International.
It is already against the law since 17 July to post any message on social media or between people in Tanzania that "ridicule, abuse or harm the reputation, prestige or status of the United Republic of Tanzania" on social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Presidential elections are supposed to take place in Tanzania in October for the first time since the authoritarian John Magufuli became Tanzania's president in 2015.
Tanzania now ranks at a lowly 124th in the World Press Freedom Index by the Reporters without Borders as the country continues its clampdown on press freedom and personal freedom of expression.
