Meta suspends Tanzania activists for showing election killings
Africa
By
AFP
| Dec 04, 2025
Meta suspended the Instagram accounts of two Tanzanian activists on Thursday after they posted images of the violent crackdown by security forces on election protests, which authorities have tried to suppress.
Tanzania descended into violence on October 29, the day of elections deemed fraudulent by international observers.
More than 1,000 people were shot dead by security forces over several days of unrest, according to the opposition and rights groups, though the government has yet to give a final toll.
Mange Kimambi, who has more than 2.5 million Instagram followers, had been posting hundreds of photos of the dead and wounded since early November, sent to her by Tanzanians via WhatsApp, she told AFP last month from the United States.
Not all the images have been verified, but AFP fact checkers and other media and investigative sites have found that many are real.
READ MORE
US sanctions DR Congo ex-leader Kabila over rebel ties
UN helps return hundreds of DR Congo refugees from Burundi
DR Congo, M23 armed group agree to ease aid, free prisoners
Government plans stricter laws to clean up tea sector
Violence against journalists in DR Congo rising, says RSF
Tea farmers against some clauses in the tea amendment bill
Ruto strips agriculture body of coffee role in sector shake-up
French aid worker killed in DR Congo air strike
Rwanda hits back at US sanctions over M23 support in DR Congo
US slaps sanctions on Rwanda military over DR Congo 'violation'
On Thursday, Kimambi, in a letter to US President Donald Trump published on X, complained that her Instagram accounts and WhatsApp number had been "deactivated after I raised awareness about a series of severe abuses and horrific events occurring in Tanzania", including "kidnappings, killings and imprisonment of opposition leaders on fabricated treason charges".
Another prominent Tanzanian activist, Maria Sarungi Tsehai, who lives in exile, also had her Instagram account suspended, though only within Tanzania.
"Check out @Meta @instagram and their role in enabling the cover-up of #TanzaniaMassacre by restricting and deleting our Instagram and Whatsapp accounts," Tsehai posted on X.
"This is a direct attack on human rights defenders! We work to save lives by whistleblowing about abductions, corruption and killings," she added.
Contacted by AFP, a spokesperson for Meta justified the action against Kimambi in the name of its "policy against recidivism", implying she had created new accounts after others were suspended.
The action against Tsehai was a response to "a legal order from Tanzanian regulators", the spokesperson said.
"If we are unable to provide our services there, millions of people will be deprived of connecting with family and friends," Meta added.
In early November, Tanzania's attorney general, Hamza Johari, called for Kimambi to be arrested and threatened to try to have her extradited from the United States, where she lives.