"Vodafone prevented 14.96 Mn Tanzanians to make an informed decision on the national election in 2020."

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Freedom of expression is identified as one of the basic human rights by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights². Freedom of expression contributes to developing a fair and just societies². Only 9% of the global population lives in places with good freedom of speech¹. Censoring political opinions prevent society from finding amicable solutions to problems³. Censoring during the election is serious since it prevents voters from accessing information to decide whom to vote for⁴. Among 180 countries, Tanzania ranked 124 in terms of global press freedom⁵.

Vodacom is a subsidiary of Vodafone operating across Africa and offers various services such as mobile and fixed voice, data, and messaging⁶. Vodacom has 120 Mn customers. Vodafone holds 60.5% of the total share of Vodacom⁶. In 2020, Vodacom assisted the Tanzanian ruling party to impose restrictions on the opposition party in their election campaign through mobile network⁷. Vodacom filtered terms associated with the opposition party in the messages and blocked messages that contained the name of the opposition leader, Tundu Lissu⁷. The actions of Vodacom are contrary to the ideals such as “inclusion for all” espoused by the company⁷.

Members of parliament from the United Kingdom (the home country of Vodafone) and African academics condemned the actions of Vodacom⁸. Vodacom has 14.96 Mn customers in Tanzania^9;p2. It is 25.05% of the total population (59.7 Mn) of Tanzania^9;p2. Thus, Vodacom prevented a significant part of the country’s population from making informed decisions on voting since it blocked messages from the opposition party^9;p2. The election resulted in the victory of authoritative John Magufuli as the president in 2020¹⁰.

Although Vodacom cannot be solely responsible for Tanzania's authoritative regime, the company played a significant role by acting unethically. It exerted an impactful negative effect on the democratic setup of Tanzania.

Sources

• 1. https://rsf.org/en/news/only-nine-percent-humankind-lives-country-where-press-freedom-good
• 2. https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/freedom-of-expression/
• 3. https://medium.com/i-dont-have-a-lawn-but-get-off-of-it/why-censorship-is-wrong-85ad3f6665be
• 4. https://www.accessnow.org/fighting-censorship-in-2018-elections/
• 5. https://rsf.org/en/tanzania
• 6. https://vodacom.com/about-us.php
• 7. https://www.theafricareport.com/50500/how-western-companies-undermine-african-democracy/
• 8. https://www.bongoradio.com/british-mps-raise-questions-about-vodafones-involvement-in-censoring-tanzanias-opposition/
• 9. https://vodacom.com/pdf/about-us/fact-sheet/vodacom-factsheet-2021.pdf
• 10. https://indypendent.org/2020/11/authoritarianism-wins-big-in-tanzania-amid-bloodshed-and-vote-rigging/

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