Tanzania Shuts Down X After Hackers Use Police Account to Declare President Dead

Tanzania has blocked access to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) following a serious security breach in which hackers took control of the official Tanzanian police X account to falsely declare President Samia Suluhu Hassan dead.

The cybersecurity watchdog NetBlocks confirmed the development on Tuesday, reporting that the platform had become inaccessible across major internet providers in the country. According to the organization, the government’s decision to block X followed the unauthorized use of the police account to spread the alarming falsehood, which sparked outrage among national authorities.

“Confirmed: Live metrics show X (formerly Twitter) has become unreachable on major internet providers in #Tanzania; the incident comes as a compromised police account posts claims the president has died, angering the country’s leadership,” NetBlocks posted.

In response, the Tanzanian police issued a public statement distancing themselves from the post, labeling the information as false, misleading, and unethical. They emphasized that the content did not originate from the police and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“The Police Force would like to inform the public that there is false, misleading and unethical information being circulated on the Police Force’s social media platform (tanpol) with the aim of trying to convince the public that it was issued by the Police Force through its X network,” the statement read.

The police urged the public to disregard the misinformation and refrain from sharing it further, assuring citizens that efforts were underway to identify and arrest those responsible for the cyberattack.