Jamii Forum is a Tanzania based social networking website whose establishment is traced back to 2006. The online network is reported to have been one of the most popular social media websites in Tanzania as referenced in (McNeish 2015). The website is based on the user-generated content to avoid penalties the other media faced before especially for addressing key issues in Tanzania. In May of 2008, the name of the forum initially known as the Jambo forum was changed to Jamii forum following the issues on copyright. In a report from Washington Post as referenced in the Buchanan (2016), bills have recently led to much worries over the potential media crackdown in Tanzania where founders of similar forums such as Jamii have been exposed to various charges for many years. According to the Daily Beast, as referenced in Kabendera (2018), the JamiiForum has been a whistleblowing platform whose greater focus is on the current news and events hence the website is directly opposing the leading political party in Tanzania, Chama cha Mapinduzi. Members of the committee that seeks to protect the journalism in East Africa have noted in the past that the website remains functionally notable for various roles as a cathartic tool used by different politicians to post essential documents.
Between 2014-2019, the Jamii forum was ranked the fourth among the most visited websites in Tanzania after other prominent websites; Google, Youtube, and Yahoo. From a survey by the editorial board as referenced in McNair (2017), the website has close to 15 million users and the average time spent of the Jamii forums is approximately 25 minutes. The content of the website is 95% Swahili given that this is the first language in the country. Being the official language, Swahili as serving as both the language of administration as well as the medium for education in Tanzania. In a report from the World Bank (2019), close to 150 million people speak Swahili globally and this has made the Jamii forum of a greater interest not only within Tanzania but beyond the country’s borders too.