Tanzania shuts down X

ft Banks still have an insider problem.

May 31, 2025

CybAfriqué is a space for news and analysis on cyber, data, and information security on the African continent.

Hiya, welcome back to business as usual. There’s a lot to cover this week, but I’m thinking about The Economist’s recent report essentially noting how Russia, through what it calls Alabuga Start, recruits young African women into military drone factories. Part of Russia’s effort to drive recruitment includes a coordinated information campaign featuring tweets and AI-generated impact content that has appeared in places including Independent NG and David Hundeyin’s West Africa Weekly. Earlier this year, David had led an online mob against some of Nigeria’s most celebrated journalists for fellowshipping with The Center for Information Resilience CIR, a U.K. think-tank to report stories on Russian influence in Nigeria.

Months later, David’s platform is caught practically red-handed promoting false, AI-generated pro-Russia content. It’s a mess to analyze but here’s the one-liner; western journalistic funding pushes an information agenda. David Hundeyin points that out because he is also being funded by Russia’s propaganda machine. I wrote earlier this year for CODA Current that this dynamic, for me, is the ultimate information conundrum. When both the push and pull of a problem is driven by external geopolitical interest, independence ultimately translates to apathy.

It’s good to be mailing you again. Dig in!

HIGHLIGHTS

Tanzania shuts down X (an highlight formerly titled Internet censorship for dummies)

Shutdowns are one a buck across Africa these days and I wonder if you get tired of the nut-graf of everyone; shutdowns are bad because they upend communication and commerce which are necessary arms of a society.

Let’s extend the “internet as the modern market square theory.” So there’s this market square where people meet to talk, get crucial information, and do commerce. If you, as king, shut down the market, people can’t access communication and commerce, two things that are foundational to the concept of society.

The argument would now be that this market, however important, might have to be shut down sometimes. For example, if there’s a disease outbreak, authorities can shut down the market in order to prevent spread. If, also, there’s a threat of violence on anyone who comes to the market, the market can be closed in order to prevent violence. Most people would also agree it should be closed if, say, people start gathering there exclusively to plot acts of violence. The question I've been asking is what if, due to perceived laxity of the village police, someone gained access to the market and falsely announced the queen dead, would a total shutdown of the market be an appropriate response?Well, Tanzanian authorities answer yes. On May 20, Tanzanian authorities shut down access to X (formerly known as Twitter) after hackers gained access to the Tanzanian police twitter account and shared false news that the president was dead. Although authorities made no mention of it, NetBlocks confirmed significant disruption, reporting that X had become inaccessible across major internet service providers in the country after the official police account was compromised.

It is not the first time. In fact just earlier this month, the country’s ministry for information purged access to over 80,000 websites and accounts. In 2024, NetBlocks also confirmed a disruption on May 20, indicating service providers nationwide blocked the platform. In the 2020 general election, the government blocked social media and messaging apps and restricted SMS use, further curbing online communication; X, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram—were either blocked or restricted. 2024 reports estimated that Kenya and Tanzania might have accumulated $76.4 in losses due to internet censorship. And yes, it’s illegal to use VPNs in Tanzania without a permit. The country has accumulated fame as one of the most digitally repressive countries on the continent

Shutdowns are particularly addictive to African governments. A report by an internet rights group revealed that 21 internet shutdowns were recorded around 15 African countries in 2024, slightly surpassing the previous record of 19 shutdowns in 2020 and 2021.

Every time the market was closed, was it worth it? Oh, and on paper, internet censorships are actually in direct contravention to the universal right to free speech.

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Banks still have an insider problem

There’s a popular yoruba saying that loosely translates to “if the wall does not crack, the lizard cannot get it.” In Nigeria, as Tanzanian authorities implemented their quiet crackdown on the internet, Premium Trust Bank’s e-payment service manager, Matthew Adeniyi, was being arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos on allegations of providing sensitive information to accomplice hackers, which enabled the threat actors cart away with a modest $10,000.

Adeniyi, along with four co-defendants, Kehinde Odeyemi, a nursing mother, Samson Latshin, Bolaji Omotosho, and Sunday Okunnola, was formally charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Alexander Owoeye.

Earlier this month, an appeal cort upheld a seven-year imprisonment verdict on an ex-staff of GTB who enabled over 50 million worth of losses in loan fraud. Another staff at Access Bank enabled unauthorized overdraft limits through a private computer. The EFCC, who have prosecuted many of said six banks have been targeted in coordinated cyber attacks by hackers, with many being enabled by bank employees. Breaches in banking portals are usually facilitated by bankers who “understand the system,” said Ola Olukayode, chairman of the EFCC – how shocking.

The anti-graft agency said it had recovered N9.7 billion, N6.7 billion, and N3.7 billion stolen from some banks.

FEATURES

  • This article from CDD West Africa examines how an information disorder is contributing to the rise of military populism in West Africa. It highlights how recent coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have gained public support due to perceived failures of democratic leadership, foreign interference, and abuse of power. The piece also details how military leaders utilize disinformation and propaganda to cultivate an image as protectors of national sovereignty and leverage growing anti-imperialist sentiments to their advantage, portraying themselves as bulwarks against external exploitation and political influence.

  • This article from ITWeb highlights the ongoing issue of mobile internet inequality, disproportionately affecting women in low- and middle-income countries. It reveals that women are significantly less likely to use mobile internet than men, with the gender gap in adoption stagnating in 2024 due to factors like economic instability, political turmoil, climate events, and the high cost of mobile handsets relative to women's income. The piece underscores the urgent need for increased investment to close this digital divide, noting that bridging the gap could boost LMIC economies by $1.3 trillion by 2030

  • This DISA article addresses the increasing challenge of misinformation and disinformation in West Africa, a region susceptible to manipulation due to geopolitical competition and vulnerable media landscapes. It details how major global powers, including Russia, China, the US, and the EU, deploy disinformation tactics to influence the region, capitalizing on economic struggles and diminishing public trust in traditional media. The piece uses an example from Kenyan President William Ruto to illustrate the rapid spread and damaging effects of false information on public trust, while also highlighting the efforts of fact-checking organizations and independent journalists to counter disinformation and foster an informed populace.

  • This DFR Lab article exposes a coordinated campaign by South African influencers hired to criticize Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for rejecting Russia's proposed Victory Day ceasefire. These influencers actively promoted anti-Zelenskyy and pro-Russia hashtags on X, leading to them trending in South Africa. The campaign, facilitated by a local influencer marketplace, involved numerous accounts engaging in traffic manipulation to amplify specific political narratives. The article also notes a similar prior campaign in March where some of the same influencers attempted to derail a meeting between Zelenskyy and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa by portraying Zelenskyy as corrupt.

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