In successive Afrobarometer survey rounds, more than seven of 10 Tanzanians have said they feel free to say what they think, placing Tanzania near the top among African countries in perceived freedom of speech. The Tanzanian news media environment, however, is only partly free, according to Freedom House assessments, and recent years have witnessed extensive government intervention in news media activity. On several occasions, the government has invoked the 1976 Newspaper Act to ban or suspend prominently critical media, defending its actions as attempts to protect citizens from unscrupulous media practices. Several extra-legal attacks and incidents of intimidation of the press have also been reported. (The state suspensions/bans and intimidation/attacks are well documented in Freedom House annual country reviews, available at https://freedomhouse.org/report/ freedom-press/2014/tanzania.) These events have fuelled concerns among the civil society, both domestically and internationally, about growing state intolerance to criticism and dissent.
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