The official X (formerly Twitter) account of the Tanzania Police Force was hacked early Tuesday morning, May 20.
After gaining unauthorized access to the account, which boasts over 468,000 followers, the hackers used it to share a series of misleading and alarming information.
One of the shocking posts was a live broadcast and a written statement in Kiswahili falsely announcing that President Samia Suluhu Hassan had died. It urged Tanzanians to remain calm during the supposed “difficult period”.
"With deep sorrow, we confirm the death of the president of the United Republic of Tanzania. We ask all citizens to remain calm and uphold unity during this difficult time. May God rest her soul in eternal peace," the fake post read.The false announcement quickly circulated online and Tanzanian authorities acted swiftly to clarify the situation.
The Police Force issued an official statement confirming that their X account had been compromised and that none of the content about the president’s death originated from them.
“The Police Force would like to inform the public that false, misleading, and unethical information was being circulated through the Force’s X account (@tanpol), aimed at deceiving the public into believing it originated from the police. These claims are entirely untrue, and the police would never publish such content on its social media platforms,” the statement read.
