Information access key to building public trust
TANZANIA: FOR a citizen trying to understand a government decision, a parent looking for information about a public service, a journalist investigating an issue of public interest or a businessperson making an investment decision, information is more than words on a page.
It can determine what people do, how they respond to events and whether they trust the institutions responsible for serving them.
But in an increasingly digital world where information moves across phones and social media platforms within seconds, the challenge is no longer simply whether information is available.
It is whether the information reaching citizens is timely, accurate, reliable and possible to verify.
That reality was at the centre of discussions in Tanzania during the commemoration of the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI) 2026, where stakeholders called for stronger efforts to protect the public’s right to know while addressing the growing problem of information disorder.
Observed every September 28, IDUAI was proclaimed by UNESCO in 2015 before the United Nations General Assembly recognised the day at the global level in 2019.
The day seeks to draw attention to the importance of access to information and the need for laws guaranteeing that right to be implemented effectively.
UNESCO links access to information with informed decisionmaking, inclusion, development and stronger societies.
The 2026 global theme, “Upholding Information Integrity in the Digital Age: The role of access to information in addressing information disorder,” reflects a growing concern that simply giving people access to information does not guarantee that they will receive information they can trust.
The United Nations says timely and credible public information can strengthen trust, support informed decisions and enable meaningful participation in society.
For Tanzania, the discussion comes against a rapidly changing information environment in which government institutions, media organisations, civil society, technology companies and ordinary citizens are increasingly connected through digital platforms.
Speaking during the commemoration, Executive Secretary of the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) and Chairperson of the Coalition on Right to Information (CoRI), Mr Ernest Sungura, said Tanzania had already taken an important step by enacting the Access to Information Act, 2016.
But he said having a law was not enough when citizens were surrounded by information that could be false, incomplete, manipulated or deliberately misleading.
“The right to access information alone is not enough. In an environment where information is everywhere, citizens need information that is available on time and information that can be trusted,” Mr Sungura said.
His argument points to a growing dilemma in the digital age: A person may have access to hundreds of sources of information and still struggle to establish what is true.
Mr Sungura said the absence, delay or difficulty in accessing official information created an information vacuum, which could then be filled by rumours, unverified claims and misleading content.
The rapid spread of social media, smartphones and artificial intelligence has made this challenge more complex.
Information can now reach thousands or millions of people almost instantly, while manipulated images, videos, audio and text can also be produced and circulated at speed. For Mr Sungura, this makes proactive disclosure by public institutions increasingly important.
“We should not depend only on citizens coming to request information. Public institutions also have a responsibility to provide information voluntarily and in good time, particularly information that is of public interest,” he said.
He said access to reliable information allowed citizens to understand policies, make decisions affecting their lives, participate in public affairs and hold institutions entrusted with public resources and authority accountable.
The responsibility, he added, does not rest with government institutions alone. Journalists and editors have to verify information before publication, civil society organisations have a role in promoting public awareness, technology stakeholders influence how information moves online, while citizens themselves need the skills to assess what they encounter.
“The speed at which information travels today cannot replace accuracy. Journalists and editors have a greater responsibility to verify information, use credible sources and correct mistakes when they occur,” Mr Sungura said.
Representing the Director of Information Services, Mr Evordy Kyando said the government recognised its responsibility to ensure citizens and other stakeholders had access to reliable information for informed decision-making.
He said the right to information was provided for under Article 18 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, with legislation providing procedures governing access to information.
“As government, we have a responsibility to supervise and ensure that the rights provided for under the Constitution and relevant laws are implemented as intended,” Mr Kyando said.
He said the 2026 theme provided an opportunity to examine the quality of information reaching the public, including its accuracy, reliability, authenticity and verifiability.
Digital technology, he added, had created new opportunities for people to access information while also providing channels through which misinformation, disinformation and mal-information could spread.
“In this digital era, we are facing serious information disorders. The use and distribution of inaccurate and misleading information has become a challenge to the implementation of various activities and to the decisions made by citizens,” he said.
Mr Kyando said protecting information integrity required cooperation between government, journalists, media organisations and other stakeholders.
“Protecting integrity throughout the information chain is a very important responsibility and it cannot be left to government alone. Journalists, media stakeholders and all those working to promote media freedom have a responsibility to participate and cooperate with government,” he said.
For Advocate Jebra Kambole, the next question is how citizens can know whether information has been restricted, removed or made inaccessible.
He called for stronger measures to improve access to information, including open digital platforms and greater transparency around decisions to restrict or remove content.
“There is a need to establish a public register showing information or content removed from digital platforms, the authority responsible and the reasons for its removal. This will promote transparency and enable citizens to understand decisions affecting their access to information,” Adv Kambole said.
He also called for a clear and user-friendly regulatory framework under the Access to Information Act, arguing that citizens needed simple procedures for requesting information, receiving responses and seeking redress where requests were rejected.
But access, he said, should not end when information reaches a citizen’s phone or computer. “A citizen should be able to get information, know its source, verify it, use it and share it safely,” Adv Kambole said.
The same concern about access and trust emerged during the panel discussion, where Advocate William Maduhu of the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) said the existence of laws alone did not guarantee that citizens could exercise their right to information.
“This is beyond the law, beyond the Constitution and beyond international treaties. It is a question of ethics, integrity and political will among those in power,” Adv Maduhu said.
He said the internet had become an important channel through which citizens receive, verify and share information, making continued access to digital platforms increasingly important in modern society.
Media Consultant, Ms Annastazia Rugaba took the discussion further, linking access to information with something that is difficult to build and easy to lose: Public trust.
She said when public institutions did not provide sufficient and timely information, citizens often searched for answers elsewhere, creating space for speculation and misinformation.
“Trust is a very rare currency in the world,” Ms Rugaba said.
She called on public institutions to improve the way they communicate with citizens, arguing that simply uploading documents was not enough if information was difficult to access, outdated or failed to answer the questions people were asking.
Ms Rugaba said internet disruptions also had wider implications because they interrupt communication and access to information used by citizens, businesses and other stakeholders.
Her argument reflects the wider purpose of IDUAI: Information is not valuable merely because it exists. It becomes meaningful when people can access it, understand where it comes from, assess whether it can be trusted and use it to make decisions.
The 2026 global IDUAI conference in Freetown, Sierra Leone, is examining precisely this connection between access and information integrity, bringing together information commissioners, governments, civil society, journalists and researchers.
Its programme places particular attention on proactive disclosure, credible data, recordkeeping, digital technologies and ways of addressing information disorder.
For Tanzania, the message from the commemoration was therefore not simply about giving citizens more information.
It was about creating an information environment in which citizens can find the information they need, receive it in time, establish its source, verify it and use it safely.
In that environment, access to information becomes more than a legal right. It becomes a practical tool for informed citizens, accountable institutions and public trust.
