{"id":97406,"date":"2025-10-07T05:33:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T05:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=97406"},"modified":"2025-10-07T05:33:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T05:33:00","slug":"tanzania-issues-social-media-warning-after-video-calls-for-military-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=97406","title":{"rendered":"Tanzania issues social media warning after video calls for military \u2018action\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tanzanian police have warned against the use of social media to spread misinformation following a widely shared video of an alleged military officer criticising the government, three weeks ahead of general elections.<\/p>\n

Identifying himself as \u201cCapt Tesha\u201d from the air force, he accuses the government of corruption, rights violations and political interference in the military.<\/p>\n

The military did not respond to BBC inquiries about his identity, and the BBC has not been able to verify whether he is a serving officer.<\/p>\n

The purported officer urges military chief Jacob Mkunda to take action and ensure the country is united, and to uphold citizens\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

He also encourages Tanzanians to push for their rights and hold demonstrations, saying the security forces are behind them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot let the nation be lost in the hands of a few people. I also advise my chief of defence to take action against what is happening in the country,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

It comes as Tanzania is preparing to hold general elections amid a tense environment.<\/p>\n

In an apparent response to the viral video, the military has warned against attempts to draw it into politics.<\/p>\n

Military spokesman Col Bernard Masala Mlunga said such information was being posted by individuals \u201cclaiming military affiliation or are former members dismissed for misconduct or political activism\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe TPDF [Tanzania People\u2019s Defence Force] continues to carry out its constitutional duties with integrity, loyalty, and professionalism, in full accordance with the [Tanzanian] laws,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the police warned that sharing of \u201ccriminal and inflammatory\u201d information was a misuse of social media driven by ill intentions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [police force] assures Tanzanians that it will continue to hunt for [those sharing such content], arrest them and bring them to justice,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Tanzanian opposition activists have been re-sharing the viral video on social media, interpreting it as a sign of military solidarity with them.<\/p>\n

President Samia Suluhu Hassan is seeking to retain the presidency under the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) in the forthcoming elections.<\/p>\n

The main opposition party, Chadema, has been banned from participating in the polls, and its leader Tundu Lissu has been detained since April.<\/p>\n

He faces treason charges, and a hearing was due to start on Monday. Human rights groups say the charges are politically motivated and meant to silence him.<\/p>\n

Critics of the government have also been targeted in recent months and there are growing concerns about whether the 29 October elections will be free and fair.<\/p>\n

Many civil society groups, journalists, and political observers say the government has tightened control over the media, public gatherings and opposition activities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"TanzaniaTanzanian police have warned against the use of social media to spread misinformation following a widely shared video of an alleged military officer criticising the government, three weeks ahead of general elections.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1972,10,9,3976,2984],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-politics","category-popular","category-social-media","category-tanzania"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}