to 1,5 years in prison or a fine of five million Tsh (2,215 USD) on charges of “publication of false information” under the 2015 Cybercrimes Act. The charges stemmed from comments on Facebook regarding the procedural issues during the 2015 elections in Zanzibar. Chacha Wangwe is the Director of the Law Department of the Tanzania Students’ Networking Programme.” Analysts have pointed out that the provision of Section 16 violates international freedom of expression standards. They further state that it makes the work of journalist covering current developments unreasonably dangerous; for example when breaking news, facts are often difficult to verify. Moreover it is often debatable what the truth is of a particular matter and the state should trust citizens to be capable of reaching their own conclusions. Over 20 cybercrime cases were recorded in 2017. With over 20 million smartphone users in the country, most of which are ignorant to the contents of the Cybercrimes Act, the number of victims of this law keeps on increasing. The year 2017 saw proposed new online content regulations which impose heavy fines and jail terms on bloggers and online platforms for public debate and whistleblowing, including the hugely popular Jamii Forums, and whose adoption would therefore be devastating. The Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, 2018, were adopted in September 2017, restrict online freedom. According to the regulations, social media users and online content producers are held liable for materials deemed “indecent, obscene, hate speech, extreme violence or material that will offend or incite others, cause annoyance, threaten 114 So This is Democracy? 2017 harm or evil, encourage or incite crime, or lead to public disorder”. Those found guilty face a fine of 5 million Tanzanian shillings (USD2, 300), a minimum of 12 months in jail, or both. The Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, 2017, passed in September, curtailed online freedom. The regulations shall apply to online content including:- (a) application services licensees; (b) bloggers; (c) internet cafes; (d) online content hosts; (e) online forums; (f) online radio or television; (g) social media; (h) subscribers and users of online content; and (i) any other related online content. Online content providers are prohibited to publish, amongst others, indecent or obscene content, hate speech, and content defined broadly as that which “causes annoyance, threatens harm or evil, encourages or incites crime, or leads to public disorder”, and “content that may threaten national security or public health and safety”. Those convicted under the Act are liable to a fine of a minimum of Tshs 5 million (USD2250) or a minimum of 12 months imprisonment, or both. Towards the end of 2016, police raided the offices of the website Jamii Forums and arrested the co-founder Maxence Melo under the Cybercrimes Act and the Electronic and Postal Communications Act. He was charged for refusing to disclose personal information of contributors to his social media platform who allegedly disclosed sensitive information and for “managing a domain not registered in Tanzania”. His refusal to comply with police requests has come at a price, with his case continuously being rescheduled. At the time of compiling this report, the case had not yet been resolved. Jamii Forums is one of the most popular online whistleblow-