Recent events in East Africa have highlighted a growing trend of state-level intervention in digital communication, with both Tanzania and Kenya implementing significant restrictions on internet access and social media platforms. These measures, although driven by different motivations, underscore a broader pattern of governments asserting control over the digital landscape during sensitive national events, raising concerns about transparency, information flow, and fundamental rights.

Tanzania experienced a nationwide internet shutdown that lasted for five days, commencing on October 29, 2025, and concluding with general connectivity restoration on November 3, 2025. This digital blackout coincided with the country's presidential and parliamentary elections. Global internet observatory NetBlocks confirmed the widespread disruption, noting its onset as voting began and corroborating reports of a complete digital blackout. The election proceeded under these conditions, despite the main opposition parties being barred from participation, which severely limited transparency and the free flow of information. Citizens, journalists, and election observers faced significant challenges in communicating or reporting on the unfolding events.

The initial disruption on election day was an eight-hour blackout, implemented alongside a national curfew. This internet shutdown extended into a second night on October 30, 2025, with only brief, intermittent restorations reported by network monitors. By October 31, 2025, the disruption had continued for a third consecutive day. This prolonged blackout critically obscured visibility into widespread protests concerning the conduct of the election, protests that reportedly led to human rights abuses and the use of force by security operatives. Even after general connectivity was restored on November 3, 2025, NetBlocks data confirmed that widespread restrictions on key communication platforms remained in effect. These targeted measures specifically impacted social media and messaging applications, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, TikTok, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter), functionally impairing access to these services through major internet service providers.

A distinct, yet related, pattern of state-level internet control emerged in Kenya on November 3, 2025, where internet users began experiencing targeted restrictions on the messaging platform Telegram. This disruption was also confirmed by NetBlocks, which reported metrics indicating limited Telegram access coinciding with the commencement of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations. This is not an isolated incident but aligns with an established pattern of government censorship during national examination periods, with similar restrictions observed in November 2023 and November 2024.

Kenyan authorities implement these measures primarily to curb examination cheating, a persistent national challenge often facilitated by social media platforms. The government has previously articulated that such actions are essential to protect the integrity of the national exams, issuing direct directives to telecommunications providers to enforce the block. Network data confirmed that this disruption affected users nationwide, although its implementation varied between service providers, with reports indicating different levels of reachability and failure rates on networks like Safaricom and Airtel. While the government's stated aim is to prevent exam leaks, the measure has a broad impact, disrupting communication for all Telegram users in the country, including individuals, businesses, and media groups reliant on the platform for daily operations. This restriction exemplifies a recurring strategy by Kenyan authorities to control specific digital platforms during sensitive national events, presenting a different motivation than the politically driven blackout in Tanzania, but nevertheless forming part of a wider regional trend of increasing state intervention in digital communication.