Associated Incidents
IN SHORT: Some Facebook users claim that this photo shows hundreds of Tanzanians queuing for an interview at the Tanzania Revenue Authority, competing for just five jobs. While the country's unemployment crisis is real, this photo is not.
A photo has been posted on Facebook claiming to show a large crowd of Tanzanians lining up for a job interview at the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).
The post said TRA, Tanzania's revenue agency, was only looking to hire five people.
The caption reads: "Waliojitokeza kwenye interview ya TRA hapa wanatakiwa watano tu, ajira ni janga la Taifa." This translates to: "Those who appeared in the TRA interview, only five are needed, unemployment is a national disaster."
The photo went viral after TRA said 112,952 out of 135,027 applicants were invited for preliminary interviews on 29 and 30 March 2025 in nine regions. In February 2025, TRA announced over 1,500 job openings.
Youth unemployment is a pressing concern in Tanzania. With its third five-year development plan, the government aims to reduce youth unemployment from 9% in 2019 to 8% by 2025/26. Under this plan, vocational training, youth participation and private sector partnerships will be expanded. But a large informal sector and limited formal job creation continue to hinder progress.
This photo also appears here and here.* (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)*
But does it show hundreds of Tanzanians lined up for a job interview at the tax agency? We checked.
AI-generated image
When we analysed the image, we found several signs that it could have been generated using artificial intelligence (AI). The edges of the image appear blurred; some people in the photo have distorted faces, and others are missing body parts, like an ear.
They also all face in the same direction and have the same facial expression, while many are grouped and wearing the same clothes.
We used Sight Engine and Hive Moderation, both tools used to analyse and detect digital images, including potential manipulation and AI generation, to determine if the photo was AI-generated.
Sight Engine said it was 99% likely that the photo was AI-generated. Hive Moderation analysis showed an 81.5% chance that the image contained AI-generated or deepfake content.
The same photo and claim also appear here, here, here, here and here.