On September 6, 2025, Jambo TV reporter Baraka Lucas and Manara TV reporter Ezekiel Nicco Mollel were arrested in the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha on allegations of operating an unregistered online television channel, a police statement said, without providing further details about the platform.
On September 7, the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition, Journalists Workers Union of Tanzania (JOWUTA), Media Aid for Indigenous and Pastoralist Community (MAIPAC), the Arusha Press Club, and the Media Institute of Southern Africa – Tanzania Chapter (MISA-TAN) condemned the journalists’ detention and denial of bail as unconstitutional, and said the journalists had been denied access to their families and lawyers.
On September 12, police released Lucas and Mollel on bail, Arusha Press Club chairperson Claud Gwadu told CPJ. Investigations were ongoing and the journalists had been told to report back to the police once officials had decided whether to press charges, he said.
The police said the arrests were based on alleged breaches of the 2020 Electronic and Postal Communications Act, which was amended in 2022 and 2025. The law has been widely criticized for enabling sweeping censorship, and imposing burdensome registration and costly licensing requirements. The government has used the law to suspend media outlets, most recently the popular discussion platform JamiiForums,
As of September 2025, neither the Arusha regional police nor the national police had responded to CPJ’s emails requesting clarification on the case.