Recently, celebrities and notable figures in Tanzania have been promoting a new social media platform called "Be from BetaTQ," including sports entertainment broadcaster Shafii Dauda, Actress Irene Uwoya and politician, activist, and book producer Yericko Nyerere.
Developed by BetaTQ, the Be from BetaTQ social system is a digital environment designed for users to share content and collaborate with others. The platform offers features such as Story Sharing, Posts (Video, Images, Audio), and a Chat feature.
In terms of ownership, BetaTQ Ltd, the company behind the platform, was established on April 3, 2024. It operates with two directors, Mr. Hartman Osmund from the UK and Mr. Neithan Hamis Swed from Tanzania. However, the specific owner of "Be from BetaTQ" or its parent company has not been publicly identified.
The platform's features seem to closely resemble those of Instagram, focusing primarily on visual content, unlike forums like JamiiForum.
What makes me believe that this platform is Tanzanian is due to screenshots on the Play Store mostly showing usernames or users with Swahili names, and it's being promoted predominantly by Tanzanians. By and large, this appears to be a Tanzanian platform.
Initially registered in Tanzania, the platform has now shifted its registration to China and the UK, and it's accessible in over 180 countries worldwide.
Be from BetaTQ is positioning itself as a competitor to Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, but it offers additional features not found on other platforms. For example, users can create posts and replies using voice recordings, and they can even write articles presented like books. Users can also sell their articles through the platform, similar to Amazon. The platform has a distinct African flavor.
Many people from various countries are also joining, using it to promote their businesses like they do on Instagram or Facebook. People are engaging in voice chats rather than text chats all the time. It's a very promising platform.
For national security reasons, the Ministry of Communication, under Nape Nnauye, it is essential to urge the owners of this platform to make it more Tanzanian-centric, which could enhance security measures in the future. Considering that all social media platforms collect user data, if this platform, which originated in Tanzania, has decided to move its operations to the UK and China, then it's our negligence not to safeguard valuable assets like this, which could become crucial for the nation in the future.
If this platform is established with headquarters in Tanzania, it would mean the nation is ensuring greater security for information, unlike platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and WhatsApp, where they collect data from Tanzanians without transparency regarding its use and destination.