Tanzania is one of the African countries whose laws prohibit same-sex sexual acts and marriages. Although no people have publicly entered into same-sex marriages, various reports on social media confirm the presence of Tanzanians who engage in same-sex sexual acts, who are called “Mashoga” (from the word “ushoga,” which refers to homosexuality). They are also referred to by two main names: “Ufiraji” for men who are attracted to men or men who have anal intercourse, and “Usagaji”, which refers to lesbianism.
Those who are found or who declare themselves to be involved in such acts are considered ungodly or criminals and are often hated and ostracised by their families and communities. If they are found engaging in homosexual acts or their videos and photos are discovered, they tend to be arrested and charged with sexual offences. For this reason, such acts are carried out in secret, although some people freely identify with the LGBTQ community on social media.
The Minister for Community Development, Gender, Children and Special Groups, Dr Dorothy Gwajima, is one of the political leaders who have appeared on social media, denouncing the alleged erosion of morals due to the promotion of LGBTQ rights. In response to questions about the government’s stance on homosexuality, she cited Section 154 of the Penal Code and urged people not to commit the offences specified in the law.
The provision, which deals with unnatural offences, states: “Any person who [has] carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; or has carnal knowledge, an animal; or permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.”
Many discussions about LGBTQ on social media revolve around religious beliefs, customs and traditions, rather than human rights. This leads to narratives on the topic being driven by sentiments, fear, hate speech, and disinformation, rather than accurate information.
Various people and groups ride on misleading or inciting online narratives to declare war against those who identify as members of the LGBTQ community, especially people who have homosexual relations.
In the comments above, posted on January 7, 2025, on X (formerly Twitter), there is a discussion between stakeholders and the Minister of Social Development, Dr Dorothy Gwajima, who wrote legal instructions on acts of moral violation. A commenter who identified themself as the Drivers’ Rights Association says, “I see our government leaders are silent and you are not criticising. Dr Dorothy, answer us, are homosexuals allowed? because you are not criticising this thing.” The Minister responds to the comment saying, “Read section 154 of the Penal Code, Chapter 16, then you will find more arguments in that area.” She adds, “Before you make a claim, ask Google if your claim has been worked on by the government or not.”
Another contributor, @immaMtanganyika, tells the Minister, “Mama Gwajima, if we allowed them to be whipped in the street, they would be completely eliminated. Unfortunately, homosexuality is knocking on the door of many universities, especially in the city of Dar es Salaam.”
In his post, the X user @munyamambogo above writes to Minister Dr Gwajima in Swahili, “These are a nuisance. The citizens will take the law into their own hands. Now it’s a stick until they understand and correct themselves. Why are you unable to condemn this matter, or is it permissible?”
In response to this post, @themiamoja writes, “There are Instagram and WhatsApp pages that post a lot about these guys. It’s really embarrassing. They should be reprimanded and appropriate action should be taken, because there are no morals there. It’s rubbish.”
Between January and May 2025, Tanzanian social media was flooded with claims portraying LGBTQ identities as products of “foreign promotion” and using the topic as a weapon in political debates. Under hashtags like #ulawiti and #ndoa_za_ jinsia_moja, users have shared videos and comments that misinform the public about LGBTQ issues, often framing them as moral corruption or foreign imposition rather than human rights matters.
Mainstream media platforms also amplify some of these narratives. For example, on April 11, 2023, Channel Ten television station, through its Facebook page, published a video interview with a religious leader, where they discussed the erosion of morals.
“The war on homosexuality and lesbianism is a bigger war than the war on drugs,” the channel’s Facebook page wrote, quoting Sheikh Dr Alhad Mussa, Chairman of the Tanzania Reconciliation and Peace Association.
One of the comments on the post was from Mwasongwe Mwakagire Rajabu, who wrote, “If we want homosexuality to end, the government will not tolerate us. Let us vote in every village, district, region, you will all know the homosexuals, you will have only one job: to test them to confirm if they are really homosexuals. And they will help you name the homosexuals. In the end, we will announce them publicly and give them appropriate punishment.”
False Narratives About Homosexuality
Beyond calls for members of the LGBT community to be punished and publicly whipped, there are also instances of misleading claims and conspiracy theories being promoted on social media about the topic.
These include claims that children could become homosexuals from sexual abuse, such as in this September 2025 X post by @chahali, that animals do not practise homosexuality, or that same-sex relations are common due to foreign influence.
Experts say such narratives mislead audiences by conflating sexual violence with sexual orientation. According to human rights advocates, this confusion fuels stigma and fear rather than fostering understanding.
“What we see is misinformation framed in moral panic,” said a Dar es Salaam-based gender rights researcher. “People use religious and cultural lenses to define something they don’t fully understand.”
Similar sentiments appeared in posts from the same period by @Gibson44178359 and @Myahuditz88, which equated same-sex attraction with criminal behaviour and moral decline. The ideas seem to be aimed at inciting society to see people with different views on homosexuality as criminals, which in turn creates hatred and discrimination.
Another common narrative portrays homosexuality as a curse.
In the above post, Muhamed Hamisi writes in Kiswahili, urging people to unite in the fight against homosexuality and claiming that [real] men are now very few.
“Some people have found jobs after giving up their dignity. Someone moved to the house of his boss, the band director, who used to cut off parts of the band as a male stripper, so that he could serve him well because he was homeless. Someone got a job on TV, but his pain is very severe when he goes to the toilet,” he wrote. “Oh, Almighty God, who created the earth and the means, we ask that you save us from this curse of homosexuality and sodomy in our society. Then save us and our generations from entering this devilry. Amen.”
Some of the catalysts causing hatred and the spread of misinformation include a lack of public education and strong warnings from government agents, such as the former Minister of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports.
Through Mr Nape Nnauye, who is no longer a Minister, the Tanzanian Government has said that homosexuality, lesbianism and same-sex marriage have no place in the country, stressing that this is the position of the government.
In the report contained in the screenshot above, Nape was quoted as saying in April 2023 that the government would not allow “a foreign culture” to corrupt the country’s values and culture.
“I want to assure Tanzanians that homosexuality, lesbianism, same-sex relationships have no place in Tanzania,” he stressed. “There is no reason to mince words. Our position is clear: God has blessed this nation. We cannot open the door to curse.
LGBTQ Used as a Political Tool
Many social media posts have been found to weaponise the LGBTQ debate, using it as a way to discredit political opponents and stir public sentiments against them.
One example is from @mushi_mzee, which insinuated in a post made in January 2025 that certain politicians “support homosexuality to please Western donors.”
Screenshot of @mushi_mzee’s post on X
Mzee Mushi, who identifies himself as a political activist for the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party on his page, writes content defending the Tanzanian presidential candidate on the CCM ticket while using his page to involve and attack CCM opponents, labelling them as a group advocating for homosexuality.
In the above screenshot, he wrote, “They want to deprive you of your vote, Tanzania and LGBTQ are incompatible. All religions do not allow men to have sex against nature, and the same applies to women. Allah said to Adam and his wife, ‘Go and multiply and replenish the Earth.’ Even animals do not do it.”
In various publications on page X, @mushi_mzee shows his movements against political parties using the LGBTQ concept as a weapon to weaken opposition parties. He accuses leaders of the main opposition party, Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), of supporting homosexuality. The account especially used this tactic in the period leading up to the 2020 general elections.
In a post from February 2, 2020, @mushi_mzee wrote, “What is the reason for these? Our friends have even taught their host Tundu Lissu to spread his fingers in the shape of a “V” when he went to see a Gay Rights leader.”
Tundu Lissu is a former member of parliament and chairman of CHADEMA. The picture shared in the tweet had been distorted to include the words “Gay Rights Meeting” and was shared by many other accounts on X and Facebook. “Tundu Lisu with his gay human rights Robert Amstardam at one of the Meeting in Europe. Tanzanian shall NEVER ever vote a such cursed person who breaches the commandment of God!” one X account wrote on October 21, 2020.
Mzee Mushi (@mushi_mzee) in a post on August 12, 2020, wrote, “Wasting time, discussing ignorance about same-sex marriage LGBT (gay rights).”
Similar claims were echoed by @1ngadu1, which, on May 14, 2025, framed LGBTQ discussions as evidence of foreign interference in Tanzania’s politics.
Screenshot shows discussions aimed at discrediting politicians by associating them with LGBTQ, with the intention of degrading them.
In the Swahili comments above Ngadu (@1ngadu1) writes, “Mama is the choice of all Tanzanians. They don’t want to be hypocrites for choosing Tundu Lissu, a homosexual activist.”
This discussion aims to smear CHADEMA politician Tundu Lissu and elevate the leader of the ruling CCM party by using inaccurate information and hate speech.
A survey released by Afrobarometer in 2020 showed that only 10 per cent of Tanzanians expressed tolerance towards people of different sexual identities or orientations, which is below the continent’s average of 20 per cent and worse than the tolerance level from a previous survey conducted in 2014. This explains why the LGBTQ card is an effective tool in the hands of political actors during elections to discredit their opponents, as this would affect how the electorate perceives them.
Beyond X, TikTok has become another platform where misinformation spreads rapidly. In videos posted by @niffer_official (others here and here), the creator reinforces stereotypes by using humorous skits and dramatic storytelling to mock videos portraying same-sex relationships that attract thousands of views and comments.
Screenshot of posts by @niffer_official on TikTok with the caption, Mashoga mastar wachafu bongo (the dirty gay stars in Dar es Salaam).
Media observers warn that such content, often framed as entertainment, normalises discrimination. “When misinformation is mixed with comedy, it becomes even harder for audiences to recognise it as false,” said a communication lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam.
The Impact of Clerics
Religious leaders have also taken a broader view of faith and are using churches to express their positions with the aim of either awakening a sense of change in the behaviour of their believers or informing society of what is happening and the prohibitions.
In the above screenshot image from Nipashe newspaper’s Instagram page, it published 2023 church reports complaining about the increasing number of people engaging in homosexuality in Tanzania and calling on the government to take action.
“The Tanzania Assemblies of God (TAG) Jerusalem church, Soko Matola in Mbeya, has condemned the rise of same-sex marriages in the country. As a result, the church has urged the government not to accept aid that is being given on the condition of allowing such marriages in order to comply with the will of God,” it wrote.
“The church’s Bishop, Adson Mwajunga, made the statement during the Christmas Service held last Sunday. Mwajunga said allowing same-sex marriage is a sin before God and advised the government not to allow aid that is being given that aims to allow such marriages, stressing that there are no holy scriptures that allow such marriages.”
The conflicting views and methods used to disseminate information about the LGBTQ community may be the reason that raises doubts about the information itself, considering that many readers in East African countries do not have the knowledge to identify truth and falsehood on social media by verifying the facts and the veracity of the information in question.
One of the reports that circulated on the internet and caused concern was a video posted by an online TV called @infotv_tz in December 2023 that mentioned that the Pope of the Catholic Church was allowing same-sex marriages to be blessed in the church.
Commenting on the Info+ TV video, Mama Faraja writes, “This is the end of the world. God created woman and man was his own. He gave man his parts and woman his own. He created them differently. God help us.”
Cloudia Mselle similarly wrote, “His ignorance is there, not here in Africa.”
Impact on Public Understanding
The spread of anti-LGBTQ misinformation and hate speech contributes to a climate of hostility and fear. Many Tanzanians, particularly in rural areas, rely on social media for news and are likely to believe unverified information shared by peers or influencers.
Civil society organisations working on digital literacy say combating this requires awareness campaigns, fact-checking, and balanced reporting.
“We must separate facts from myths. LGBTQ issues are about human dignity, not politics or witchcraft,” said an activist from a local rights organisation.
It should not only be looked at from the religious or foreign influence angles; it has to be dealt with in totality, as it has cross-cutting effects on the daily lives of different individuals.
In Tanzania, social media platforms have become battlegrounds for competing narratives about sexuality, morality, and politics. As misleading posts and videos continue to shape public opinion, the need for responsible digital behaviour and fact-based journalism has never been greater. It is high time media professionals made sure the right information is disseminated from their platforms without taking sides.
This article was produced with mentorship from the African Digital Democracy Observatory (ADDO) as part of an initiative by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway and Code for Africa (CfA). Visit https://disinfo.africa/ for more information.