Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations she has made to the Government of Tanzania in relation to (a) the impact on freedom of the press of that country's Media Services Act 2016 and (b) ensuring that independent media outlets can operate freely.

The UK is a strong advocate of media freedom in Tanzania. We raise our concerns with the Government of Tanzania, both on legislation and where individual journalists are prevented from freely reporting or publishing. The UK is actively providing support to civil society and media in Tanzania through our Accountability in Tanzania 2 programme, including support to organisations directly contributing to the debate on reform of the Media Services Act. The UK welcomes the recent announcement of a review of the Media Services Act 2016 by the Government of Tanzania. We also welcome the recent lifting of bans on a number of newspapers, in line with a judgement by the East African Court of Justice.