The information landscape in Tanzania is undergoing a profound transformation, catalysed primarily by the widespread diffusion of mobile technologies. However, it is also frequently destabilised by state censorship, media capture, civil unrest, the digital divide, and political disinformation campaigns. These factors flare up during elections, when the strength and integrity of a nation’s information ecosystem are rigorously tested. In electoral contexts, a credible and trustworthy information environment is needed to empower voters to make informed decisions without being manipulated by false narratives or coordinated propaganda. However, facing state-led internet shutdowns, Tanzania’s information flows, daily civic life, and democratic participation levels depend on collaborative, multistakeholder approaches to safeguard public access to reliable information.
This report discusses multistakeholder efforts to address information disorder during the 2025 electoral cycle in Tanzania. It explores questions such as: What types of existing and emerging threats challenged information integrity in the 2025 elections? How did these threats manifest, and what was the role of stakeholders in mitigating them? To answer these questions, key informant interviews were conducted with diverse stakeholders across Tanzania, and a risk mapping exercise was conducted using the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) model to identify anticipated threats and examine how these risks manifested in practice.
The research also shows that global interventions on information integrity have largely proven ineffective in African contexts, often lacking evidence grounded in the continent’s diverse political and media ecosystems. Responding to these policy gaps and limited risk-mitigation practices, this report provides Tanzania-specific evidence by examining the roles, responses, and challenges of stakeholders during the recent electoral cycle, and offers recommendations for future multistakeholder interventions during election periods.
