Tanzania is redrafting a bill that would give the national statistical
agency powers to punish journalists who publish data from unofficial
sources, following criticism it was trying to suppress freedom of
speech.
The bill introduced by the administration of President Jakaya Kikwete sought to impose prison terms or fines on those who published or aired statistical data without prior approval.
The government withdrew the bill, which would also apply to opinion polls and data from foreign organizations, after a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday.
It plans to rewrite the measure but officials provided no information on what changes they might propose.
The attempt to impose fresh controls on the media came amid a crackdown on bloggers, a growing area of employment for jobless university graduates.
The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority on Tuesday summoned over 400 bloggers to discuss journalism ethics and issued a code of conduct for reporting on elections.
Tanzania will hold a presidential election in October 2015.
Rakesh Rajani, a member of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee and head of a leading governance think-tank Twaweza, said the government's proposal was at odds with Tanzania's constitution, which guarantees each citizen the right to access, receive and impart information.
"Freedom of information is the lifeblood of democracy," Rajani said.
Presenting the statistics bill to parliament on Wednesday, Finance Minister Saada Mkuya said its goal was to give the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) more autonomy.
She said the measures would help the NBS carry out its duties efficiently by having one source of correct data and by reducing ambiguity, especially when statistics are compiled by more than one institution.
Members of the opposition, however, said it would further curtail press freedom.
"We would all like to ensure that the media does not publish false information, but we don't want them to withhold information that the government doesn't want to see even if it is true," said Christina Lissu, an opposition legislator.
Already the laws regulating the media in Tanzania are among the most restrictive in eastern and southern Africa. However, journalists have been able to operate without facing extreme government censorship.
Tanzania is a member of an international initiative to foster freely accessible data, the Open Government Partnership, which sets standards for transparency in government and monitors countries' progress in meeting those standards.
The bill introduced by the administration of President Jakaya Kikwete sought to impose prison terms or fines on those who published or aired statistical data without prior approval.
The government withdrew the bill, which would also apply to opinion polls and data from foreign organizations, after a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday.
It plans to rewrite the measure but officials provided no information on what changes they might propose.
The attempt to impose fresh controls on the media came amid a crackdown on bloggers, a growing area of employment for jobless university graduates.
The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority on Tuesday summoned over 400 bloggers to discuss journalism ethics and issued a code of conduct for reporting on elections.
Tanzania will hold a presidential election in October 2015.
Rakesh Rajani, a member of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee and head of a leading governance think-tank Twaweza, said the government's proposal was at odds with Tanzania's constitution, which guarantees each citizen the right to access, receive and impart information.
"Freedom of information is the lifeblood of democracy," Rajani said.
Presenting the statistics bill to parliament on Wednesday, Finance Minister Saada Mkuya said its goal was to give the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) more autonomy.
She said the measures would help the NBS carry out its duties efficiently by having one source of correct data and by reducing ambiguity, especially when statistics are compiled by more than one institution.
Members of the opposition, however, said it would further curtail press freedom.
"We would all like to ensure that the media does not publish false information, but we don't want them to withhold information that the government doesn't want to see even if it is true," said Christina Lissu, an opposition legislator.
Already the laws regulating the media in Tanzania are among the most restrictive in eastern and southern Africa. However, journalists have been able to operate without facing extreme government censorship.
Tanzania is a member of an international initiative to foster freely accessible data, the Open Government Partnership, which sets standards for transparency in government and monitors countries' progress in meeting those standards.
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