Ex-spouse exposes marriage secrets

I divorced my wife about three years ago after our marriage broke down. A few days ago, one of my work colleagues forwarded me a podcast episode that has since gone viral across several online platforms. The episode has attracted hundreds of thousands of views, shares and comments. In the podcast, my former wife narrated her experiences during our marriage. Although she never mentioned my name, she alleged that her former husband repeatedly cheated on her with his former girlfriends, had affairs with housemaids, drank excessively, was physically abusive and even pressured her to terminate one of her pregnancies. I feel like everyone who knows us now believes she was talking about me. Some colleagues have even started treating me differently, and people online are demanding that the man she described be identified. I have never been charged or convicted of any of the things she alleged. Can someone really say all these things about another person on a public platform? Is there anything the law can do to protect me?

AT, Dar es Salaam

Your question raises an important issue regarding the balance between freedom of expression and protection of an individual’s reputation. While every person enjoys the right to freedom of expression, that right is not absolute. In Tanzania, the publication of defamatory matter is governed by the Media Services Act, Cap. 229 [R.E. 2023] (the Act), which provides legal protection to individuals whose reputation has been unlawfully harmed.

Under section 35(1) of the Act, a publication is regarded as defamatory if it is likely to injure a person’s reputation by exposing that person to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or is likely to lower that person’s reputation in the eyes of right-thinking members of society or damage his or her profession, trade or business. Further, under section 36 of the Act, a publication occurs where defamatory matter is communicated to another person through writing, speech or any other means.

Accordingly, the mere fact that your former wife did not expressly mention your name does not necessarily prevent the publication from being defamatory. The law recognizes that a person may be identified indirectly. If those who know you and your former wife can reasonably conclude, from the surrounding facts and circumstances, that you are the person being referred to, a Court may find that the publication was indeed about you.

The Court of Appeal has recently affirmed that section 35 of the Media Services Act codifies the law relating to defamation in Tanzania. The Court also observed that comments made by members of the public in response to a publication may assist in showing how an ordinary reader, listener or viewer understood the publication and whether it was capable of exposing the complainant to hatred, contempt, ridicule or otherwise lowering his or her reputation. In your case, the fact that colleagues and other people who know you have associated the allegations with you, coupled with online comments demanding that the identity of the former husband be revealed, may be relevant evidence in determining whether the publication referred to you and whether it was capable of injuring your reputation.

That said, not every publication that causes embarrassment or emotional distress will amount to defamation. The Court will still consider a number of factors, including whether the statements complained of were defamatory, whether they referred to you, whether they were published to other persons and whether any recognized legal defence applies. For example, section 37 of the Act recognizes truth and public benefit as a defence to a claim for defamation. The Court of Appeal has also clarified that other recognized common law defences may be available where the circumstances justify.

If you believe that the publication has unlawfully damaged your reputation, you may seek red