Abstract:
This article seeks to discuss some legal issues raised by the emergence of Internet as a new medium through
which the right to freedom of expression is exercised. The legal issues that are discussed include freedom of
expression in relation to the right to privacy, defamation and protection of children welfare, and freedom of
expression regulation on the Internet from its generality. These are issues that call for a balance between them so
as to enhance justice to all in a society. The discussion is based on Tanzania laws and other international laws
that guarantee this fundamental right, and the laws that protect other rights which may be affected by the
exercise of the former right. At national level, the laws discussed in this article include the Constitution of the
United Republic of Tanzania, 1977 (as amended), and the Law of the Child Act, No. 21 of 2009 whereas those at
international level include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948; the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, 1966; the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, 1981; the Convention on
the Rights of the Child, 1989; the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 13; and the United Nations
General Assembly Resolution 59.
